BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• BP p.l.c. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 18 brokerages, with a 12-month target price averaging $41.77.
• In its latest quarterly earnings, BP reported $0.90 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations and revenues of $46.63 billion, though this represents a 1.4% decline year-over-year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.4942 per share, reflecting a yield of 5.6% and a high payout ratio of 942.86%.

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.7727.

BP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 price target on shares of BP and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BP from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 14th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of BP from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $35.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 167.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $32.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.35. 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 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $46.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.88 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 9.08%. BP's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4942 per share. This is an increase from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. BP's dividend payout ratio is 942.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Corient IA LLC bought a new position in shares of BP during the 1st quarter worth approximately $338,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 5,751.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 204,058 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 333.1% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 53,054 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of BP by 486.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,312,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 358,800 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $12,124,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 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.

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