BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded at Berenberg Bank

Key Points

• BP has been upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Berenberg Bank, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock's performance.
• Several analysts have raised their target prices for BP, with TD Cowen updating its target from $34.00 to $37.00, demonstrating growing investor confidence.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.90, surpassing analysts' expectations, and indicated a revenue of $46.63 billion, up from estimates of $42.88 billion.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Berenberg Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on BP. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on BP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $34.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group downgraded BP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 price target on BP and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.17.

BP Price Performance

BP stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $34.28. 707,659 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,237,006. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $31.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.14. The stock has a market cap of $90.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 163.25, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.57. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $35.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.21.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $46.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.88 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 0.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in BP by 486.9% in 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 buying an additional 2,312,687 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $7,015,000 after buying an additional 204,058 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in BP by 30.2% in 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 buying an additional 103,100 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in BP by 217.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,282 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $3,171,000 after buying an additional 73,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in BP by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 163,147 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $5,513,000 after purchasing an additional 57,719 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.