BP (NYSE:BP) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Freedom Capital

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Freedom Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BP. HSBC downgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $38.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Evercore set a $38.00 price objective on BP and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. TD Cowen cut their target price on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.35.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $37.69 on Thursday. BP has a 12 month low of $25.22 and a 12 month high of $39.51. The company has a market capitalization 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. BP’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in BP during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BP during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership increased its holdings in shares of BP by 1,068.3% in the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in BP in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.