BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.23.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BP. Morgan Stanley downgraded BP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $49.90 to $41.50 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays upgraded BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on BP from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in BP by 7.5% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 15,956 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in BP by 2.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 29,235 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in BP by 101.5% during the second quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 14,654 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 7,383 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its stake in BP by 6.8% during the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 20,388 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its stake in BP by 11.7% during the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 8,261 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Performance

BP opened at $34.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $94.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a 52-week low of $33.52 and a 52-week high of $40.84. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $35.69 and its 200-day moving average is $36.54.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $47.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. BP had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 3.60%. BP’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BP will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.63%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.92%.

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.