First Financial Corp IN Reduces Stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

First Financial Corp IN trimmed its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 20.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,332 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 7,714 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in BP were worth $1,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 576.0% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in BP in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in BP by 200.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BP traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $35.60. 3,173,328 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,875,688. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.16 and a 200 day moving average of $36.51. BP p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $33.52 and a 1 year high of $40.84.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $48.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.65 billion. BP had a return on equity of 13.49% and a net margin of 4.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.4362 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. BP’s payout ratio is presently 53.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BP shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of BP from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a report on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $38.60 to $42.30 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price target on BP from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.88.

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.