BP (NYSE:BP) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

BP has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of BP from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on BP in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded BP to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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. Finally, HSBC cut BP from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.23.

BP Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of BP opened at $32.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. BP has a 12 month low of $30.67 and a 12 month high of $40.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.69 and its 200-day moving average is $36.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.08. BP had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $47.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BP will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BP. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in BP during the second quarter worth $38,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in BP by 576.0% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in BP by 85.7% during the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.