BP (NYSE:BP) Lowered to “Underperform” Rating by Bank of America

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Finviz reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BP. Berenberg Bank raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Melius Research began coverage on BP in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.14.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $37.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. BP has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $37.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.28.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $48.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.76 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 0.79%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of BP during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BP during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in BP during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in BP by 2,250.0% in 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 buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Finally, Acima Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BP in the second quarter valued at $32,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.