BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.26.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BP. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

BP Stock Up 3.3 %

BP opened at $33.42 on Tuesday. BP has a fifty-two week low of $27.82 and a fifty-two week high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $89.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 417.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $32.39 and a 200-day moving average of $31.24.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. On average, equities analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,375.00%.

Institutional Trading of BP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BP by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in BP by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 13,189 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in BP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,255,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in BP by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,810,000 after purchasing an additional 38,759 shares during the period. Finally, Syon Capital LLC increased its position in BP by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 21,476 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.