Brokerages Set BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Price Target at $39.64

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.64.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BP. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in BP by 404.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in BP by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in BP by 58.7% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in BP by 9.0% during the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $34.69 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.38. BP has a one year low of $27.82 and a one year high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 433.62, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS 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%. On average, analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.54%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,375.30%.

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.