Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Grows Stake in BP p.l.c. $BP

Key Points

• Amova Asset Management Americas increased its BP stake by 62.7% in the first quarter, ending with 111,261 shares valued at about $5.23 million.
• BP’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.24 versus the $1.00 estimate and revenue of $52.26 billion, up 11.4% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive: BP has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average target price of $46.98, while the stock also offers a 4.7% dividend yield.

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) by 62.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,261 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,894 shares during the quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.'s holdings in BP were worth $5,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,933 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its stake in BP by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 36,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank increased its position in BP by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 29,456 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BP. Mizuho initiated coverage on BP in a report on Monday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised shares of BP from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $49.40 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of BP from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised shares of BP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BP from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.98.

BP Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BP stock opened at $42.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $110.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.17. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $31.58 and a 52-week high of $48.27. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $41.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. BP had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $52.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.4992 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. BP's payout ratio is 165.00%.

BP Company Profile

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company's core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.

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