BP (NYSE:BP) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $43.02 and last traded at $42.99, with a volume of 1400217 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on BP. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.50 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Bank of America cut shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BP has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.58.

BP Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $113.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,319.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.92.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $9.43. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. BP’s payout ratio is presently -19,800.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in BP during the 4th quarter valued at $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in BP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP grew its position in BP by 125.2% in the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,141,000 after purchasing an additional 274,381 shares during the period. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new stake in BP during the 4th quarter valued at $8,335,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 206.0% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,849 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,568,000 after buying an additional 170,221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Company Profile

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.