Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,489 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,754 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 2,489 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in BP in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in BP by 85.7% in the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its holdings in BP by 29.1% in the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $30.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.48. BP p.l.c. has a 52 week low of $29.00 and a 52 week high of $40.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. BP’s payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BP shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of BP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas lowered BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on BP in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BP in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.73.

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.