BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Short Interest Up 61.7% in August

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,170,000 shares, an increase of 61.7% from the July 31st total of 5,670,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

BP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BP traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $34.47. 4,662,163 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,307,495. The company has a market capitalization of $95.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a 1 year low of $32.51 and a 1 year high of $40.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average is $34.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.38.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $47.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.82 billion. BP had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BP will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.57%. BP's payout ratio is currently 59.56%.

Institutional Trading of BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PSquared Asset Management AG bought a new stake in shares of BP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,315,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of BP by 145.5% during the fourth quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 656,293 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $23,233,000 after purchasing an additional 388,931 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 26.7% in the second 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. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in BP by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 487,648 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $17,263,000 after buying an additional 59,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 431,655 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $15,583,000 after buying an additional 19,140 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC downgraded BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded BP to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of BP to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered BP from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded BP to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $44.23.

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.