BP (NYSE:BP) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $39.51 and last traded at $39.2340, with a volume of 2650668 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius Research downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $38.00 price objective on shares of BP and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on BP from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Freedom Capital downgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.35.

BP Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3,919.58, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.26.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The company had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. BP’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. BP’s payout ratio is -19,800.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in BP by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp grew its position in shares of BP by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,933 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in BP by 5.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its position in BP by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 36,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank increased its stake in shares of BP by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 29,456 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.