Wall Street Zen Upgrades BP (NYSE:BP) to Strong-Buy

BP (NYSE:BP) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BP. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of BP from $41.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus raised BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BP from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on BP from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of BP from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.10 to $45.30 in a report on Friday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.64.

BP Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:BP opened at $41.91 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. BP has a 12-month low of $31.58 and a 12-month high of $48.27. The firm has a market cap of $109.75 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.17.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.24. BP had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 1.62%.The business had revenue of $52.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of BP by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,628,000 after buying an additional 22,100 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in BP by 62.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 111,261 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $5,229,000 after acquiring an additional 42,894 shares in the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the 4th quarter worth $67,890,000. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,335,000. Finally, Winning Points Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth about $659,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BP is expected to announce billions of dollars of new investments in Iraq alongside ConocoPhillips, a move that could expand BP’s upstream footprint and support long-term production growth. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investment as U.S. seeks to cut Iran’s energy hold
• Positive Sentiment: Citi says BP’s biggest turnaround opportunity is in reshaping its upstream oil and gas business, reinforcing the view that the company is moving away from its prior renewables-heavy strategy. BP’s big opportunity is in its upstream oil and gas business – analyst
• Positive Sentiment: BP and ConocoPhillips are also tied to a broader redevelopment effort in Iraq’s Kirkuk oilfields, adding another upstream catalyst for BP. ConocoPhillips to buy 42% stake in BP unit tied to Iraq’s Kirkuk oilfields
• Neutral Sentiment: BP is shutting down BP Ventures and selling most minority holdings in its venture portfolio, a portfolio-optimization and deleveraging move that may improve focus but also signals a pullback from some growth bets. Oil giant BP shutters its corporate venture arm after 20 years
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group trimmed its FY2027 EPS estimate for BP slightly, which is a mild headwind but not a major change versus the broader earnings outlook. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investments, CNBC reports
• Negative Sentiment: The lower earnings estimate adds some caution around BP’s near-term profit trajectory, even though it remains below consensus only modestly. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investments, CNBC reports

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.