BP (LON:BP) Earns “Buy” Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of BP (LON:BP) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a GBX 500 ($6.57) price target on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on BP from GBX 550 ($7.23) to GBX 500 ($6.57) and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a GBX 650 ($8.55) price objective on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a GBX 510 ($6.71) target price on shares of BP in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BP currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of GBX 636.67 ($8.37).

BP Stock Down 1.5 %

BP stock opened at GBX 405.70 ($5.33) on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 446.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 475.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 79.91, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of £66.53 billion, a PE ratio of 1,229.39, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.52.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 8th. This represents a yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from BP’s previous dividend of $0.07. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6,969.70%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Hina Nagarajan acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 429 ($5.64) per share, with a total value of £21,450 ($28,205.13). In other news, insider Murray Auchincloss acquired 87 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 434 ($5.71) per share, for a total transaction of £377.58 ($496.49). Also, insider Hina Nagarajan bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 429 ($5.64) per share, for a total transaction of £21,450 ($28,205.13). Insiders acquired 10,099 shares of company stock worth $4,223,269 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.