Jones Financial Companies Lllp Grows Stock Position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,615 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,491 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in BP were worth $2,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in BP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of BP by 404.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of BP by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in BP by 58.7% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in BP by 1,867.9% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 7,970 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 7,565 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $31.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.32. The firm has a market cap of $85.39 billion, a PE ratio of 398.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. On average, research analysts expect 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 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,375.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank downgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.26.

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.