Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Takes Position in BP p.l.c. $BP

Key Points

• Gamco Investors has acquired a new position in BP p.l.c. with the purchase of 7,727 shares valued at approximately $261,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• BP recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $0.4942, which reflects a yield of 5.6% and a payout ratio of 942.86%.
• The stock currently has a market cap of $93.01 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 167.93, with price targets from analysts ranging from $26.50 to $66.00.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,727 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BP. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 2,250.0% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BP in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co increased its holdings in shares of BP by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BP by 580.8% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,158 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BP shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of BP from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Melius started coverage on shares of BP in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank raised shares of BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. 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. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of BP in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.77.

BP Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE BP traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $34.48. 10,233,136 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,907,410. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $35.54. The firm has a market cap of $90.95 billion, a PE ratio of 164.20, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.38. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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. BP had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The company had revenue of $46.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. BP's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4942 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. This is an increase from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 942.86%.

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.