BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Receives $38.28 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.1833.

BP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded BP from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore set a $38.00 target price on BP and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, January 8th.

BP Stock Up 1.2%

BP stock opened at $46.71 on Friday. BP has a 52 week low of $25.22 and a 52 week high of $46.79. The stock has a market cap of $122.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4,665.83, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. BP’s payout ratio is presently -19,800.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BP by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,808 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Sagefield Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of BP by 125.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of BP by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 18,304 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares during the period. Finally, Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the fourth quarter valued at $8,335,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.