BP (NYSE:BP) Raised to Strong-Buy at DZ Bank

Key Points

• BP has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by DZ Bank, moving from a previous "hold" rating, which reflects increasing analyst confidence in the stock.
• Wells Fargo raised its target price for BP from $27.00 to $32.00, while other analysts have varied in their ratings, leading to BP's current average target price of $35.17.
• In its latest earnings report, BP exceeded expectations by posting $0.90 EPS, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.68, even as revenue dipped 1.4% year-over-year.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at DZ Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 target price on shares of BP and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $34.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of BP from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of BP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.17.

BP Stock Up 0.4%

BP stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.09. 4,687,710 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,263,190. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.14. The firm has a market cap of $90.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 162.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.57. BP has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $35.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of BP by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 8,558 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in BP by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in BP by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,648 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company's stock.

BP Company Profile

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.