BP (NYSE:BP) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.68 and last traded at $40.52, with a volume of 4294711 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BP. Melius Research downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America downgraded BP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings raised BP from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a report on Friday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.35.

BP Stock Performance

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 company has a fifty day moving average of $37.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4,082.92, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.31.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $9.43. The firm had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. BP’s payout ratio is -19,700.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of BP in the 4th quarter valued at $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in BP in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP raised its stake in BP by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,141,000 after acquiring an additional 274,381 shares in the last quarter. Milford Funds Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,335,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $7,568,000 after purchasing an additional 170,221 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About BP

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.