BP (NYSE:BP) Stock Price Up 8.5% - Here's Why

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) traded up 8.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $29.86 and last traded at $32.36. 3,377,317 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 9,990,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BP. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $36.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of BP in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. TD Cowen lowered shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on BP from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on BP from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.72.

BP Trading Up 0.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $81.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -65.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.22.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.03). BP had a positive return on equity of 9.51% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The business had revenue of $46.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -413.04%.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 486.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,644 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $94,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,687 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of BP by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $27,810,000 after purchasing an additional 38,759 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its position in BP by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 477,764 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $16,144,000 after acquiring an additional 12,522 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in BP by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 444,530 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $15,020,000 after purchasing an additional 103,100 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 8,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company's stock.

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.