BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded BP from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating, adding to a generally positive analyst backdrop. BP’s consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average target price of $46.64.
• BP’s latest quarterly earnings beat expectations, posting $1.24 EPS versus the $1.00 estimate and revenue of $52.26 billion, up 11.4% year over year. The company also kept a solid balance sheet with manageable leverage.
• Recent news suggests BP is leaning further into its upstream oil and gas business, including potential major investments in Iraq with ConocoPhillips. At the same time, BP is shutting down BP Ventures and selling most minority holdings, signaling a tighter focus on core energy operations.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

BP has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of BP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of BP from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of BP from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $49.40 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of BP from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.10 to $45.30 in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.64.

BP Stock Performance

BP opened at $41.91 on Friday. BP has a twelve month low of $31.58 and a twelve month high of $48.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.75 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $41.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.05.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. BP had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $52.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. BP's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BP will post 5.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $13,628,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in BP by 62.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 111,261 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $5,229,000 after purchasing an additional 42,894 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in BP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,890,000. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BP during the fourth quarter worth $8,335,000. Finally, Winning Points Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter valued at $659,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting BP

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BP is expected to announce billions of dollars of new investments in Iraq alongside ConocoPhillips, a move that could expand BP’s upstream footprint and support long-term production growth. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investment as U.S. seeks to cut Iran's energy hold
• Positive Sentiment: Citi says BP’s biggest turnaround opportunity is in reshaping its upstream oil and gas business, reinforcing the view that the company is moving away from its prior renewables-heavy strategy. BP's big opportunity is in its upstream oil and gas business - analyst
• Positive Sentiment: BP and ConocoPhillips are also tied to a broader redevelopment effort in Iraq’s Kirkuk oilfields, adding another upstream catalyst for BP. ConocoPhillips to buy 42% stake in BP unit tied to Iraq's Kirkuk oilfields
• Neutral Sentiment: BP is shutting down BP Ventures and selling most minority holdings in its venture portfolio, a portfolio-optimization and deleveraging move that may improve focus but also signals a pullback from some growth bets. Oil giant BP shutters its corporate venture arm after 20 years
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group trimmed its FY2027 EPS estimate for BP slightly, which is a mild headwind but not a major change versus the broader earnings outlook. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investments, CNBC reports
• Negative Sentiment: The lower earnings estimate adds some caution around BP’s near-term profit trajectory, even though it remains below consensus only modestly. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investments, CNBC reports

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.

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