BP (NYSE:BP) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday after HSBC upgraded the stock from a reduce rating to a hold rating. HSBC now has a $45.30 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.10. 11,540,398 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 12,040,687 shares.The stock last traded at $43.7560 and had previously closed at $44.78.

BP has been the subject of several other reports. Melius Research cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Bank of America lowered BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on BP from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded BP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.28.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in BP by 4.2% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 39,146 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC grew its position in shares of BP by 2,705.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 57,983 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,735,000 after buying an additional 55,916 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BP during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BP by 45.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,537 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in BP by 206.0% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,849 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,568,000 after purchasing an additional 170,221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4,385.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.25.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.19 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -19,800.00%.

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.