Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 16,301 Shares of BP p.l.c. $BP

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 148,017 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 16,301 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in BP were worth $5,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in BP by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 485,409 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,528,000 after purchasing an additional 7,645 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of BP by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 465,269 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,926,000 after buying an additional 19,279 shares in the last quarter. Bollard Group LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 337,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $10,108,000 after acquiring an additional 37,974 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in BP by 206.0% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,849 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,568,000 after acquiring an additional 170,221 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 1.0% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 249,305 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,462,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BP opened at $35.80 on Thursday. BP p.l.c. has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $37.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.46 and its 200 day moving average is $34.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.47 billion, a PE ratio of 61.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.32.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.13. BP had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 0.79%.The company had revenue of $48.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 341.38%.

Key Headlines Impacting BP

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oil price rebound gives sector support — higher oil prices this week are lifting large-cap energy names, which helps BP’s trading multiple and dividend-focused investor interest. Oil Is Surging Over $60
• Positive Sentiment: Relative market resilience — coverage noting BP “gains as market dips” suggests short-term buying interest as broader indexes soften. BP gains as market dips
• Negative Sentiment: Major impairment flagged — BP said it will book $4–5 billion of impairments largely tied to its low‑carbon/energy transition businesses in Q4, directly pressuring reported earnings and book value for those investments. BP flags $4 billion-$5 billion in energy transition impairments
• Negative Sentiment: Weak oil trading hit — BP warned that weak fourth‑quarter oil trading will drag on results, compounding the impact of impairments and increasing near‑term earnings volatility. BP Warns of Weak Oil Trading
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder pressure on strategy — activist group Follow This and other investors filed resolutions asking BP to disclose plans for value creation if global oil & gas demand declines, increasing governance scrutiny and potential strategic constraints. Climate activist shareholder group pushes BP, Shell
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership and strategy concerns — a pared‑back trading update and commentary about “strategic drift” ahead of a CEO change are keeping investors cautious about BP’s transition roadmap and capital allocation decisions. BP update underlines end-of-era drift

Analyst Ratings Changes

BP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BP from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI set a $38.00 price objective on BP and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.71.

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.