BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the oil and gas exploration company on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th.

BP has decreased its dividend by an average of 4.1% per year over the last three years. BP has a dividend payout ratio of 46.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect BP to earn $4.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.0%.

BP Price Performance

BP stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $29.02. The stock had a trading volume of 19,289,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,419,202. BP has a 1-year low of $29.00 and a 1-year high of $40.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. BP had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 13.83%. BP’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BP will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on BP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.