BP Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 35,593 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 46% compared to the average daily volume of 24,339 call options.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.90. The stock had a trading volume of 8,494,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,645,795. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.57. The firm has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a fifty-two week low of $27.82 and a fifty-two week high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BP will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BP. Scotiabank lowered BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Argus upgraded shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on BP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BP presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Vima LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 4.9% in the first quarter. Vima LLC now owns 9,994 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 10.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,589 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 1,344 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in BP by 5.1% during the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 43,064 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after buying an additional 2,083 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in BP by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.