BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Friday.

BP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Redburn Atlantic lowered BP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BP to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BNP Paribas lowered BP from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of BP from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.89.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.32. The stock had a trading volume of 11,303,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,446,853. BP has a 12-month low of $27.82 and a 12-month high of $40.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.49 and its 200 day moving average is $32.00. The company has a market capitalization of $83.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. BP's quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that BP will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position 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 worth $20,281,000 after buying an additional 16,534 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its stake in BP by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 23,325 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in BP by 1.2% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 440,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $13,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in BP by 2.2% during 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. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of BP by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 343,880 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $10,795,000 after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company's stock.

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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