BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and four have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.98.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank downgraded shares of BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of BP from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP opened at $31.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.24. BP has a twelve month low of $30.52 and a twelve month high of $40.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.27. The firm has a market cap of $86.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 4.25 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 firm had revenue of $47.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that BP will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.13%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in BP during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in BP during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in BP during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 85.7% in the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 73.1% in the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,575 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. 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.