BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.76.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of BP from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in BP by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,360 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 24,252 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 29,165 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in BP by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 47,003 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its stake in BP by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 129,215 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in BP by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,436 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $31.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.80. The company has a market cap of $84.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.37, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a 12 month low of $27.82 and a 12 month high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. BP’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BP will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

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.