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

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,490,000 shares, an increase of 30.5% from the October 15th total of 8,040,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 8,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of BP by 9.9% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 233,776 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,338,000 after purchasing an additional 20,976 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the second quarter worth $2,620,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the first quarter worth $32,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in BP by 4.6% in the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 431,655 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $15,583,000 after acquiring an additional 19,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in BP by 93.4% in the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 16,070 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 7,761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:BP opened at $28.98 on Friday. BP has a 12 month low of $27.82 and a 12 month high of $40.40. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.14 and its 200 day moving average is $34.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.65.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.15 earnings per share. BP’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that BP will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.63%. BP’s payout ratio is 200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BP shares. Hsbc Global Res raised BP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upgraded BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Argus upgraded BP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on BP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.73.

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.