BP (NYSE:BP) Downgraded by Scotiabank

Scotiabank cut shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. Scotiabank currently has $36.00 price objective on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $42.00.

BP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded BP to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of BP to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of BP from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Argus raised shares of BP to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered BP from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $42.98.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $32.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.48. BP has a one year low of $30.52 and a one year high of $40.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $47.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.98%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in BP in the first quarter worth $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BP during the second quarter worth about $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 worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in BP by 85.7% in 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 buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.