Brokerages Set BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Price Target at $36.73

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.73.

BP has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BP from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.09. The stock had a trading volume of 10,604,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,572,957. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.26 billion, a PE ratio of 351.17, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50 day moving average is $30.70 and its 200 day moving average is $30.70. BP has a twelve month low of $25.22 and a twelve month high of $39.48.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $46.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.12 billion. BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,375.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in BP by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in BP by 404.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of BP by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 8,073 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in BP by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 37,338 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.