BP (NYSE:BP) Hits New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $28.96 and last traded at $29.03, with a volume of 2852191 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised BP to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Redburn Atlantic cut BP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of BP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $49.90 to $41.50 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group raised shares of BP to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.73.

BP Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average is $31.54 and its 200-day moving average is $34.38. The firm has a market cap of $78.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.65.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business's revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 200.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of BP by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 646,102 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $20,281,000 after buying an additional 16,534 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in shares of BP by 5.4% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 23,325 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of BP by 3.4% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 429,773 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $15,515,000 after buying an additional 13,984 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 2.2% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 360,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $12,998,000 after buying an additional 7,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of BP by 9.9% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 233,776 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $7,338,000 after purchasing an additional 20,976 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.