BP (NYSE:BP) Downgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $38.60 to $42.30 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TD Securities upped their target price on BP from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Raymond James upped their target price on BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.88.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP opened at $36.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.23. BP has a 52-week low of $33.52 and a 52-week high of $40.84.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $48.88 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.66 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BP will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in BP during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in BP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in BP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in 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. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in BP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 11.01% of the stock is currently 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.