BP (NYSE:BP) Sets New 1-Year Low - What's Next?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $29.59 and last traded at $29.77, with a volume of 1067724 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BP shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of BP from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. HSBC lowered shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of BP to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of BP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $49.90 to $41.50 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Argus raised shares of BP to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BP currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.98.

BP Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $32.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $81.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.08. BP had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $47.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP during the 1st quarter worth $6,682,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of BP by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 629,568 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $22,727,000 after purchasing an additional 132,750 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter worth $2,620,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 860.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,464 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 59,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of BP by 147.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 43,063 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 25,690 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.