BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada cut BP from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays upgraded shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank cut shares of BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.73.

BP Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of BP traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $29.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,590,144 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,424,909. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $78.94 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a one year low of $29.00 and a one year high of $40.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.48.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BP will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 200.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of BP by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 233,776 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,338,000 after purchasing an additional 20,976 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in shares of BP by 12.2% in the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 9,597 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of BP by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 107,512 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of BP by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 23,325 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.