BP (NYSE:BP) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• BP shares reached a new 52-week high of $35.71, with analysts providing positive ratings including upgrades to "strong-buy" and a target price as high as $66.00.
• The company reported earnings of $0.90 per share, exceeding estimates, despite a 1.4% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• BP recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.4942 per share, representing a yield of 5.5%.

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $35.71 and last traded at $35.72, with a volume of 702877 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BP shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BP from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Berenberg Bank upgraded BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of BP from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Melius started coverage on BP in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.05.

BP Trading Up 1.6%

The stock has a market cap of $94.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 170.58, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $33.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.22. BP had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The business had revenue of $46.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. BP's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.4942 per share. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. This is a boost from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 942.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Corient IA LLC acquired a new position in BP in the first quarter valued at about $338,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BP by 5,751.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 207,606 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $7,015,000 after buying an additional 204,058 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in BP by 333.1% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $2,332,000 after purchasing an additional 53,054 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in BP by 486.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,644 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $94,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 358,800 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $12,124,000 after buying an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BP

BP p.l.c. provides carbon products and services. The company operates through Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, and Customers & Products segments. It engages in the production of natural gas, and integrated gas and power; trading of gas; operation of onshore and offshore wind power, as well as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage facilities; trading and marketing of renewable and non-renewable power; and production of crude oil.

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