BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,650,000 shares, a decline of 31.7% from the February 13th total of 15,600,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in BP by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,040,000 after acquiring an additional 110,019 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $588,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of BP by 83.3% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,360 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 24,252 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of BP by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 272,527 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $8,056,000 after purchasing an additional 38,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake 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 worth $19,526,000 after buying an additional 14,436 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Price Performance

BP opened at $33.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $90.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 422.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.22. BP has a 1 year low of $27.82 and a 1 year high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,375.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.26.

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.