BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.2273.

Several analysts have recently commented on BP shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BP from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th.

BP Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of BP stock opened at $35.81 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. BP has a twelve month low of $25.22 and a twelve month high of $37.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.08. The stock has a market cap of $93.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.73, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.32.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $48.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.76 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 9.07%. BP’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. This is a positive change from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. BP’s payout ratio is currently 341.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in BP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of BP by 16.7% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 11,914 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in BP by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 146,824 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $5,060,000 after buying an additional 8,016 shares during the period. Finally, Greenline Partners LLC lifted its holdings in BP by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenline Partners LLC now owns 9,089 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

About BP

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.