Wells Fargo & Company Cuts BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target to $30.00

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BP. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler lowered 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.76.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $31.70 on Wednesday. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $84.70 billion, a PE ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.87.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. Analysts predict that BP will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 200.00%.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in shares of BP by 404.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in BP by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in BP during the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP during the third quarter worth approximately $91,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.