BP p.l.c. $BP Stock Holdings Boosted by Readystate Asset Management LP

Readystate Asset Management LP increased its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 322.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 619,670 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after buying an additional 472,974 shares during the quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP’s holdings in BP were worth $22,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of BP by 48.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,830,923 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $104,603,000 after purchasing an additional 928,617 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in BP by 290.2% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,049,151 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $75,716,000 after buying an additional 1,524,048 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT acquired a new stake in shares of BP during the 4th quarter valued at $67,890,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BP by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,410,714 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $52,307,000 after acquiring an additional 192,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kahn Brothers Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter worth $23,094,000. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Argus upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of BP from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.59.

Trending Headlines about BP

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC raised its outlook for BP: RBC Capital Markets reportedly increased earnings estimates and maintained a 700p price target, citing stronger commodity conditions, cost reductions, asset sales and expected debt reduction. The assessment suggests BP’s restructuring is gaining credibility. BP’s Turnaround Gains Momentum on Debt Reduction, Cost Cuts, RBC Says
• Positive Sentiment: Shell is taking stakes in BP-operated exploration projects offshore Brazil and in the Gulf of America. BP will retain operatorship and significant interests, while sharing exploration costs and gaining a partner for potentially valuable deepwater discoveries. Shell Partners With BP to Expand Deepwater Footprint in Brazil & GoA
• Positive Sentiment: BP is accelerating an Egyptian gas discovery toward first production, which could bring earlier cash flow and support near-term production growth. BP fast-tracks Egypt discovery to first gas
• Neutral Sentiment: Ian Tyler has been appointed permanent chairman after the abrupt removal of Albert Manifold. The move provides some board stability, but Tyler is BP’s third chair in less than a year and the transition highlights continuing governance concerns. bp names Ian Tyler new chair
• Neutral Sentiment: EnQuest is considering BP’s UK North Sea assets. A sale could generate cash and simplify BP’s portfolio, but the process remains preliminary and the assets face uncertainty from potential additional UK windfall taxes. EnQuest is interested in buying BP’s North Sea assets
• Negative Sentiment: Labor tensions persist at BP’s Indiana refinery. BP has asked unions to restart contract talks after a lockout, keeping open the possibility of prolonged disruption, higher labor costs or lost refining output. BP Requests Re-Start of Contract Talks at Indiana Refinery

BP Trading Up 0.0%

BP stock opened at $43.83 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. BP p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $32.72 and a 12 month high of $48.27. The stock has a market cap of $114.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.15.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $69.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.89 billion. BP had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 2.49%.The business’s revenue was up 106.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.5196 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.49%.

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.