Piper Sandler Boosts BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target to $47.00

Key Points

• Piper Sandler raised its price target on BP from $44 to $47 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying roughly an 11.06% upside from the current share price.
• BP reported a major quarterly beat — $10.00 EPS vs. $0.57 expected and $47.38B revenue — with shares trading around $42.32 near the 52‑week high, while the analyst consensus remains a Hold with an average target of $37.58.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $44.00 to $47.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the oil and gas exploration company's stock. Piper Sandler's price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.06% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Freedom Capital lowered BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank set a $41.00 price target on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Melius Research downgraded shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.58.

BP Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of BP traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $42.32. 8,624,616 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,792,284. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $42.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.40 and a 200-day moving average of $35.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,226.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.31.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $9.43. The firm had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The company's revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BP. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the fourth quarter worth $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in BP in the fourth quarter worth about $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP raised its stake in shares of BP by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $17,141,000 after acquiring an additional 274,381 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $13,628,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100 shares during the period. Finally, Bollard Group LLC boosted its position in BP by 12.7% during the second quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 337,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $10,108,000 after purchasing an additional 37,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company's stock.

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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