Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BP (NYSE:BP) Stock

BP (NYSE:BP - Free Report) had its price target raised by Raymond James from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas exploration company's stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BP to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of BP from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.76.

BP Price Performance

BP stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.70. 11,800,313 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,407,338. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64. The business's 50-day moving average is $29.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.84. 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 has a 12 month low of $27.82 and a 12 month high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $52.05 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business's revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BP will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.06%. BP's payout ratio is 200.00%.

Institutional Trading of BP

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in BP by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 29,235 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co raised its position in BP by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 13,571 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in BP by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,638 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC acquired a new position in BP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $264,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 7,850 shares during the last quarter. 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.