Zacks Research Issues Negative Outlook for BP Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research has adjusted BP's Q3 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimate to $0.73, down from $0.74, reflecting a slight decrease in expectations for the oil giant.
• BP reported strong Q2 earnings of $0.90 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.68, despite a 1.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.4942 per share, marking a rise from the previous dividend of $0.48 and resulting in a 5.8% dividend yield.

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) - Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2026 earnings estimates for shares of BP in a research note issued on Thursday, September 4th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the oil and gas exploration company will post earnings of $0.73 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.74. The consensus estimate for BP's current full-year earnings is $3.53 per share.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $42.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on BP. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of BP from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of BP from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of BP in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.77.

BP Price Performance

NYSE:BP traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.94. The company had a trading volume of 7,857,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,649,428. BP has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $35.54. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $33.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.34. The company has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a PE ratio of 161.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Institutional Trading of BP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in BP by 486.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,644 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $94,195,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312,687 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 5,751.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 207,606 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $7,015,000 after buying an additional 204,058 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in BP by 206.0% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,849 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $7,568,000 after purchasing an additional 170,221 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in BP by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 444,530 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $15,020,000 after purchasing an additional 103,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in BP by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 163,147 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $5,513,000 after purchasing an additional 57,719 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.4942 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. BP's payout ratio is 942.86%.

About BP

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.