Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Stock Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 646,102 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,534 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.23% of BP worth $20,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in BP in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 85.7% during the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its stake in BP by 73.1% in the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,575 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Down 0.4 %

BP stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $32.00. The stock had a trading volume of 5,486,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,358,193. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $30.52 and a 52-week high of $40.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $88.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $55.82 billion. BP had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The company's revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.00%. This is an increase from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. BP's dividend payout ratio is 59.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BP. HSBC cut shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Argus raised BP to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas lowered shares of BP from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on BP from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on BP in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.98.

BP 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.