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

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

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of BP in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC downgraded BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded BP from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank downgraded BP from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on BP in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and four have assigned 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 $42.73.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.94. The stock had a trading volume of 9,056,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,450,421. BP has a 52 week low of $29.00 and a 52 week high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $31.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.51. The company has a market capitalization of $81.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.65.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $52.05 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BP will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in BP during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in BP during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in BP during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in BP by 85.7% during the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its stake in BP by 29.1% during the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. 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.