BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded to Sector Outperform at Scotiabank

Key Points

• BP has been upgraded by Scotiabank from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating, with a new price target of $42.00 indicating a potential upside of 22.48% from its current stock price.
• Despite the upgrade, BP has received mixed ratings from other analysts, with Morgan Stanley lowering its rating to "underweight" while Wells Fargo and TD Cowen raised their price targets.
• BP's recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.90, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.68, alongside a revenue of $46.63 billion, greater than anticipated.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Scotiabank from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $42.00 price target on the oil and gas exploration company's stock. Scotiabank's price objective points to a potential upside of 22.48% from the company's current price.

BP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered BP from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. DZ Bank upgraded BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.06.

BP Stock Up 0.6%

BP stock opened at $34.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $90.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 163.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.57. The business's 50 day moving average price is $31.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.18. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $35.54.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $46.63 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BP. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in BP by 2,250.0% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Acima Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the second quarter worth $32,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its stake in shares of BP by 400.0% in the first quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently 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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