Readystate Asset Management LP Grows Stock Position in BP p.l.c. $BP

Readystate Asset Management LP raised its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 322.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 619,670 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 472,974 shares during the quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP’s holdings in BP were worth $22,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in BP by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,955 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after buying an additional 10,330 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BP by 7.7% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,212 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,932 shares in the last quarter. Shah Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BP in the second quarter valued at about $289,000. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in BP during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,351,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in BP by 76.2% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 15,689 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 6,783 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

More BP News

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC raised its outlook for BP: RBC Capital Markets reportedly increased earnings estimates and maintained a 700p price target, citing stronger commodity conditions, cost reductions, asset sales and expected debt reduction. The assessment suggests BP’s restructuring is gaining credibility. BP’s Turnaround Gains Momentum on Debt Reduction, Cost Cuts, RBC Says
• Positive Sentiment: Shell is taking stakes in BP-operated exploration projects offshore Brazil and in the Gulf of America. BP will retain operatorship and significant interests, while sharing exploration costs and gaining a partner for potentially valuable deepwater discoveries. Shell Partners With BP to Expand Deepwater Footprint in Brazil & GoA
• Positive Sentiment: BP is accelerating an Egyptian gas discovery toward first production, which could bring earlier cash flow and support near-term production growth. BP fast-tracks Egypt discovery to first gas
• Neutral Sentiment: Ian Tyler has been appointed permanent chairman after the abrupt removal of Albert Manifold. The move provides some board stability, but Tyler is BP’s third chair in less than a year and the transition highlights continuing governance concerns. bp names Ian Tyler new chair
• Neutral Sentiment: EnQuest is considering BP’s UK North Sea assets. A sale could generate cash and simplify BP’s portfolio, but the process remains preliminary and the assets face uncertainty from potential additional UK windfall taxes. EnQuest is interested in buying BP’s North Sea assets
• Negative Sentiment: Labor tensions persist at BP’s Indiana refinery. BP has asked unions to restart contract talks after a lockout, keeping open the possibility of prolonged disruption, higher labor costs or lost refining output. BP Requests Re-Start of Contract Talks at Indiana Refinery

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of BP from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of BP from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Freedom Capital raised shares of BP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Argus upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on BP from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.59.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BP opened at $43.83 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.76. The company has a market cap of $114.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.15. BP p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $32.72 and a 12-month high of $48.27.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $69.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.89 billion. BP had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 2.49%.The firm’s revenue was up 106.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 6.23 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.5196 per share. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.49%.

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.