BP (NYSE:BP) Reaches New 1-Year Low at $32.51

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $32.51 and last traded at $32.53, with a volume of 4347184 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BP from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.23.

BP Stock Down 1.4 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $88.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.08. BP had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $47.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.02%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. BP’s payout ratio is 59.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BP in the second quarter valued at about $237,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BP by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,087 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in BP by 2.2% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 360,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $12,998,000 after acquiring an additional 7,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the second quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.