BP (NYSE:BP) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BP. Raymond James raised their price target on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank cut shares of BP from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BP from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.76.

BP Price Performance

NYSE BP traded down $0.31 on Tuesday, hitting $31.14. The stock had a trading volume of 6,388,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,582,181. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.96 and a 200-day moving average of $31.58. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The company has a market capitalization of $84.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. BP's quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that BP will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BP. Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in BP by 404.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in BP during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BP by 32.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in BP in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,000. 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.

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