Global Retirement Partners LLC Makes New Investment in BP p.l.c. $BP

Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 43,085 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,592,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in BP in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of BP in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of BP by 76.2% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in BP by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,808 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Price Performance

NYSE:BP opened at $42.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.22. BP p.l.c. has a 1-year low of $32.72 and a 1-year high of $48.27. The firm has a market cap of $112.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.15.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $69.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.89 billion. BP had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 106.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.5196 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BP. Mizuho set a $53.00 price objective on shares of BP in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of BP from $41.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on BP from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised BP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.36.

About BP

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.