BP (NYSE:BP) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $32.27, but opened at $34.19. BP shares last traded at $34.35, with a volume of 7,260,976 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on BP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BP has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.76.

BP Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.34. The stock has a market cap of $92.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in BP by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in BP by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 18,683 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in BP by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in BP by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 107,512 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. 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.