Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BP Earnings

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) – Analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2027 earnings per share estimates for shares of BP in a research note issued to investors on Monday, March 24th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the oil and gas exploration company will earn $4.22 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $4.65. The consensus estimate for BP’s current full-year earnings is $3.53 per share.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BP. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James increased their target price on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. DZ Bank downgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.48.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $34.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 430.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.93 and a 200-day moving average of $31.32. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. 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 (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share 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%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its holdings in BP by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 129,215 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its position in BP by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in BP by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 19,753 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of BP by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. BP’s payout ratio is 2,375.00%.

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.