BP (NYSE:BP) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $39.51 and last traded at $39.4780, with a volume of 15439169 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Melius Research downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas Exane cut BP from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $38.00 target price on shares of BP and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BP from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.35.

BP Stock Up 1.6%

The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.50. The company has a market cap of $103.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -3,943.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.31.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $9.43. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The firm had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. BP’s payout ratio is presently -19,800.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new position in shares of BP during the fourth quarter valued at $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in BP during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP raised its stake in shares of BP by 125.2% during the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,141,000 after acquiring an additional 274,381 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in BP by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,628,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bollard Group LLC grew its position in BP by 12.7% during the second quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 337,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $10,108,000 after buying an additional 37,974 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.