Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC Has $223,000 Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BP were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in BP by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,436 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of BP by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,040,000 after acquiring an additional 110,019 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its stake in shares of BP by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 465,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,753,000 after acquiring an additional 10,262 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in BP by 1.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 440,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in BP by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 343,880 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,795,000 after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $33.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 417.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. Research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,375.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BP shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 target price on BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BP has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.26.

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.