BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Receives $42.98 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.98.

BP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank downgraded shares of BP from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on BP in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on BP from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of BP to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th.

BP Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BP traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.11. 7,455,529 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,372,968. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.64. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $32.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. BP has a one year low of $30.52 and a one year high of $40.84.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $47.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.82 billion. BP had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business's revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BP will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.98%. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 2.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 13,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of BP by 12.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in BP by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 128,246 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BP by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,001 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BP by 4.1% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,767 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 422 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.