BP (NYSE:BP) Cut to “Sell” at Melius Research

Melius Research cut shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a buy rating to a sell rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Melius Research currently has $31.00 target price on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BP from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.35.

BP Stock Performance

NYSE:BP opened at $37.69 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.12. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $39.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $98.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -3,764.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.33.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The company had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -19,800.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in shares of BP in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 1,068.3% during the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in BP in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Company Profile

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.