BP (NYSE:BP) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $44.36, but opened at $42.50. BP shares last traded at $42.65, with a volume of 4,603,446 shares traded.

More BP News

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Negative Sentiment: BP removed Chairman Albert Manifold immediately after citing governance and conduct concerns, fueling investor worries about internal controls and leadership stability. BP removes chairman Albert Manifold, citing ‘oversight and conduct’ issues
• Negative Sentiment: The ouster adds to a long run of executive turnover at BP, reinforcing concerns that the company’s strategic reset toward oil and gas may be harder to execute than expected. BP ousts chairman over ‘serious’ governance concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: BP appointed Ian Tyler as interim chair while it searches for a permanent replacement, limiting immediate operational disruption but not removing uncertainty. BP removes Albert Manifold as chair citing governance concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, broader energy-market weakness from falling oil prices has also weighed on BP and other integrated oil names today. BP and Shell shares slide after oil prices drop on talks to end Iran war

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BP shares. Wall Street Zen raised BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Freedom Capital lowered BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised BP from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group upgraded BP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC upgraded BP from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.10 to $45.30 in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.14.

BP Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $110.96 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.18.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. BP had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 1.62%.The firm had revenue of $52.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 165.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in BP by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in BP by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,933 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in BP by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in BP by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 36,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank boosted its holdings in BP by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 29,456 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.