BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.10.

Several research firms have weighed in on BP. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas lowered BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of BP from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in BP in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BP by 32.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of BP during the third quarter worth approximately $91,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in BP by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in BP by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $29.56 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.20. The stock has a market cap of $78.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that BP will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. BP’s payout ratio is presently 200.00%.

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.