BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.73.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BP shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded BP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP opened at $29.31 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a 1 year low of $27.82 and a 1 year high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BP will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.55%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 200.00%.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of BP by 58.7% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of BP by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 50,333 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of BP by 3.8% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 343,880 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,795,000 after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in BP by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,459 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in BP by 4.8% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,123 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BP

BP p.l.c. provides carbon products and services. The company operates through Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, and Customers & Products segments. It engages in the production of natural gas, and integrated gas and power; trading of gas; operation of onshore and offshore wind power, as well as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage facilities; trading and marketing of renewable and non-renewable power; and production of crude oil.