BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Stock Has Average Target Price of $48.44 According to Analysts

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $48.44.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BP shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Monday. HSBC upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $51.30 in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen raised BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised BP from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $48.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th.

BP Stock Performance

BP stock opened at $46.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.51. BP has a 52 week low of $32.72 and a 52 week high of $48.27. The stock has a market cap of $121.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.27.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $69.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.89 billion. BP had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BP will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.5196 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4992. BP’s payout ratio is 100.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of BP during the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA acquired a new stake in BP during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Gill Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in BP by 53.2% during the second quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in BP by 237.0% in the 2nd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 1,685 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $73,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Company Profile

BP p.l.c. is a global integrated energy company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its operations span the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, as well as the processing, refining, transportation and marketing of energy products.

Through its businesses, BP supplies fuels for road transportation, aviation and marine use, along with lubricants marketed under the Castrol brand. The company also operates retail fuel and convenience locations and provides energy products and services to commercial and industrial customers.

BP has expanded its activities beyond traditional hydrocarbons to include lower-carbon businesses such as renewable power, bioenergy, electric-vehicle charging and hydrogen.