Analysts Set BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) PT at $43.72

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.72.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BP. Jefferies Financial Group raised BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $38.60 to $42.30 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Securities boosted their target price on BP from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

BP Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $38.91 on Friday. BP has a 12-month low of $33.52 and a 12-month high of $40.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.49. The company has a market capitalization of $109.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.11. BP had a return on equity of 16.00% and a net margin of 7.15%. The company had revenue of $52.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BP will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $0.4362 per share. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of BP by 343.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 42,780 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 33,123 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $504,000. Reitz Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BP by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Reitz Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,645 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in BP by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 44,396 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Family Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BP by 45.1% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 81,534 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after acquiring an additional 25,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.