BP (NYSE:BP) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on BP. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Argus raised BP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of BP in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of BP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $49.90 to $41.50 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.73.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $28.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.38. BP has a one year low of $28.80 and a one year high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. BP’s payout ratio is 200.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 646,102 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $20,281,000 after purchasing an additional 16,534 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in BP by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,282,000 after buying an additional 23,325 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of BP by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 429,773 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $15,515,000 after acquiring an additional 13,984 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in BP by 2.2% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 360,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $12,998,000 after purchasing an additional 7,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in BP by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 250,659 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $9,445,000 after purchasing an additional 5,904 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Company Profile

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.