BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to “Neutral” Rating

BP (NYSE:BP) was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Finviz reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.64.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BP opened at $34.56 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.36. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 431.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released 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 net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of BP by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,810,000 after acquiring an additional 38,759 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 14,436 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in BP by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,040,000 after purchasing an additional 110,019 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in BP by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 465,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,753,000 after purchasing an additional 10,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in BP by 1.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 440,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.