Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 16,301 Shares of BP p.l.c. $BP

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 148,017 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 16,301 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in BP were worth $5,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BP. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in BP by 90.1% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,690 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 3,170 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of BP by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 69,481 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,394,000 after buying an additional 11,697 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in BP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in BP by 7.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 71,611 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,468,000 after acquiring an additional 4,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in BP in the third quarter worth about $125,000. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of BP from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Santander raised BP to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.71.

BP Price Performance

NYSE BP opened at $35.80 on Thursday. BP p.l.c. has a one year low of $25.22 and a one year high of $37.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.46 and a 200 day moving average of $34.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $93.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.72, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.32.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $48.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.76 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

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

Key Headlines Impacting BP

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oil price rebound gives sector support — higher oil prices this week are lifting large-cap energy names, which helps BP’s trading multiple and dividend-focused investor interest. Oil Is Surging Over $60
• Positive Sentiment: Relative market resilience — coverage noting BP “gains as market dips” suggests short-term buying interest as broader indexes soften. BP gains as market dips
• Negative Sentiment: Major impairment flagged — BP said it will book $4–5 billion of impairments largely tied to its low?carbon/energy transition businesses in Q4, directly pressuring reported earnings and book value for those investments. BP flags $4 billion-$5 billion in energy transition impairments
• Negative Sentiment: Weak oil trading hit — BP warned that weak fourth?quarter oil trading will drag on results, compounding the impact of impairments and increasing near?term earnings volatility. BP Warns of Weak Oil Trading
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder pressure on strategy — activist group Follow This and other investors filed resolutions asking BP to disclose plans for value creation if global oil & gas demand declines, increasing governance scrutiny and potential strategic constraints. Climate activist shareholder group pushes BP, Shell
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership and strategy concerns — a pared?back trading update and commentary about “strategic drift” ahead of a CEO change are keeping investors cautious about BP’s transition roadmap and capital allocation decisions. BP update underlines end-of-era drift

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.