Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Acquires 12,773 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Key Points

• Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC increased its holdings in BP p.l.c. by 163.9% in Q1, owning 20,568 shares valued at approximately $695,000.
• BP recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4942 per share, representing a 5.8% dividend yield and an increase from the previous dividend of $0.48.
• The stock has a current trading price of $33.89, with a 52-week range between $25.22 and $35.54, and has reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates.

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) by 163.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,568 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,773 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.'s holdings in BP were worth $695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in BP during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in BP by 400.0% during 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 in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in BP by 178.0% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its stake in BP by 580.8% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Trading Down 0.3%

BP stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $34.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,040,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,286,229. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.24 billion, a PE ratio of 162.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.57. BP p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $25.22 and a 12 month high of $35.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last issued 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $46.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.88 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.4942 dividend. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. This is a boost from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 938.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on BP shares. Berenberg Bank upgraded BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered BP from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 12th. 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BP presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.17.

BP 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.