BP (NYSE:BP) Given “Hold” Rating at TD Securities

TD Securities reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of BP (NYSE:BP) in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $36.00 target price on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $40.00.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. DZ Bank lowered shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.48.

BP Price Performance

BP opened at $34.60 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. BP has a 52 week low of $27.82 and a 52 week high of $40.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.62 billion, a PE ratio of 432.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. As a group, analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. BP’s payout ratio is 2,375.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. grew its stake in BP by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 129,215 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,820,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in BP by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its stake in BP by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 37,338 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in BP by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 19,753 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in BP by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BP Company Profile

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.