BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target Lowered to $31.80 at Morgan Stanley

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $34.70 to $31.80 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.89.

BP Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:BP opened at $31.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.02 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that BP will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 200.00%.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in BP by 404.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in BP by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in BP in the 3rd quarter valued at $91,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.