BP (NYSE:BP) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $39.51 and last traded at $39.2340, with a volume of 2650668 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Santander upgraded shares of BP to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Melius Research downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. HSBC cut BP from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $38.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.35.

BP Stock Up 2.2%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.97 and its 200 day moving average is $35.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.24 billion, a PE ratio of -3,919.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.33.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The firm had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. BP’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently -19,800.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 7.6% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 35,056 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 2,470 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its position in BP by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 19,253 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 4,699 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BP during the second quarter worth about $216,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in shares of BP by 1.6% during the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 485,409 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,528,000 after purchasing an additional 7,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 2.7% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 35,694 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BP

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.