BP’s (BP) Buy Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of BP (LON:BP) in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a GBX 500 ($6.57) price target on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on BP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of BP from GBX 550 ($7.23) to GBX 500 ($6.57) and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Berenberg Bank reiterated a hold rating and set a GBX 510 ($6.71) price objective on shares of BP in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a GBX 650 ($8.55) price target on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 636.67 ($8.37).

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP opened at GBX 411.70 ($5.41) on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 446.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 475.25. The company has a market capitalization of £67.52 billion, a PE ratio of 1,247.58, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 79.91, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. This is a positive change from BP’s previous dividend of $0.07. This represents a yield of 1.37%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6,969.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Murray Auchincloss sold 454,841 shares of BP stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 459 ($6.04), for a total transaction of £2,087,720.19 ($2,745,194.20). In related news, insider Hina Nagarajan purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 407 ($5.35) per share, with a total value of £20,350 ($26,758.71). Also, insider Murray Auchincloss sold 454,841 shares of BP stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 459 ($6.04), for a total transaction of £2,087,720.19 ($2,745,194.20). Insiders bought a total of 10,099 shares of company stock valued at $4,223,269 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.