Evercore ISI Downgrades BP (NYSE:BP) to Hold

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $38.00 price target on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.57% from the company’s current price.

BP has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America downgraded BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on BP from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BP from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.79.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $34.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.25, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.89. BP has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $37.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.52 and its 200 day moving average is $34.13.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 9.07%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park National Corp OH bought a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in BP by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in BP in the third quarter worth $43,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in BP by 16.7% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 11,914 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the third quarter valued at $25,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.