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.

Scotiabank upgraded shares of BP (NYSE:BP - Free Report) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $42.00 price target on the oil and gas exploration company's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on BP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 target price on BP and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Berenberg Bank upgraded BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. DZ Bank upgraded BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BP currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.39.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock traded down $0.0930 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.9570. The company had a trading volume of 2,072,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,127,074. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.24. BP has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $35.54. The stock has a market cap of $89.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.65, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.57. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.22. BP had a return on equity of 9.08% and a net margin of 0.29%.The company had revenue of $46.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.88 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4942 per share. This is a boost from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. BP's payout ratio is presently 942.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BP. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the second quarter worth $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 2,250.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Acima Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the second quarter worth $32,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its holdings 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.