BP (NYSE:BP) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 32,072,828 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 250% from the previous session’s volume of 9,155,544 shares.The stock last traded at $34.59 and had previously closed at $34.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank cut BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 target price on BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James boosted their target price on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.48.

BP Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $92.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 432.49, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.26.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.55%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,375.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in BP by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,810,000 after acquiring an additional 38,759 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in BP by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $19,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,436 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of BP by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,040,000 after buying an additional 110,019 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in shares of BP by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 465,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,753,000 after buying an additional 10,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of BP by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 440,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,842,000 after buying an additional 5,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.