Zacks Research Upgrades BP (NYSE:BP) to “Strong-Buy”

BP (NYSE:BP) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

BP has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded BP from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded BP from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $49.40 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.18.

BP Stock Performance

BP stock opened at $46.87 on Monday. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $48.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $122.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,682.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.82.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.BP’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new stake in BP in the 4th quarter worth about $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in BP during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 125.2% during the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $17,141,000 after acquiring an additional 274,381 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,628,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100 shares during the period. Finally, Bollard Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 12.7% during the second quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 337,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $10,108,000 after purchasing an additional 37,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting BP

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Zacks items moved BP to a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and it was added to Zacks’ income and value lists—this can attract retail and income-focused buyers. All You Need to Know About BP (BP) Rating Upgrade to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and other brokers have moved to overweight/raise price targets on BP (one note raised target to $49.40), supporting the bull case and likely contributing to recent upside and higher trading interest. BP Upgraded to ‘Overweight’, Price Target Raised to $49.40
• Positive Sentiment: BP recently hit a 52‑week high, a technical boost that can trigger momentum and trend-following flows. Bp stock hits 52-week high at 47.35 USD
• Neutral Sentiment: BP plans to invest $1.5 billion in Egypt natural gas exploration for FY 2026/27—a meaningful upstream commitment but longer‑dated, so near-term stock impact is uncertain. Bp to invest $1.5bln in Egypt natural gas exploration in FY 2026/27
• Neutral Sentiment: BP sold 13 Thorntons convenience stores to Giant Oil—small retail/retail-asset rationalization that slightly reduces non-core exposure but is unlikely to move fundamentals materially. BP sells 13 Thorntons c-stores to Giant Oil
• Neutral Sentiment: An options piece highlights high call-option yields for BP ADRs—useful for income/derivatives traders but not a broad fundamental catalyst. BP PLC ADRs have high call option yields for value investors
• Neutral Sentiment: Ex‑BP CEO Bernard Looney taking the helm of a data‑center developer is notable headline risk around talent flow but does not directly change BP’s operations. Ex-BP CEO Bernard Looney to Lead Data-Center Developer
• Negative Sentiment: BP has lost its head of electric‑vehicle charging for the second time in a year, and reports say the company is accelerating a pivot back to oil & gas—this raises concerns about execution in EV/retail growth areas and strategic consistency. BP loses head of EV charging as it accelerates pivot back to oil and gas

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.