BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.23.

A number of equities analysts have commented on BP shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of BP from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. HSBC downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group raised shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on BP in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company.

BP Price Performance

BP opened at $34.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.89 and a 200-day moving average of $36.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.24. BP has a 1-year low of $32.51 and a 1-year high of $40.84.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $47.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. BP had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 3.60%. BP’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that BP will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.57%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in BP by 2.6% in the second quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 13,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,245 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in BP by 12.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in BP by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 20,715 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in BP by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 128,246 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,630,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.