Cozad Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 92.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,818 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,064 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $1,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of BP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Bank & Trust Co grew its position in BP by 404.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in BP by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in BP by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC grew its position in BP by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE BP opened at $33.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 422.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. BP p.l.c. has a 1-year low of $27.82 and a 1-year high of $40.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.22.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,375.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BP. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.26.

BP 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.