Short Interest in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Drops By 31.7%

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,650,000 shares, a decline of 31.7% from the February 13th total of 15,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.26.

BP Price Performance

BP traded up $0.37 on Monday, hitting $33.76. 10,810,184 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,892,701. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 422.00, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97. BP has a 12 month low of $27.82 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.22.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of BP during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Bank & Trust Co grew its position in BP by 404.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings 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 worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BP by 58.7% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.