Versant Capital Management Inc Raises Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 41.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in BP were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in BP by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter worth $91,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BP by 9.0% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $30.47 on Monday. BP p.l.c. has a 52 week low of $27.82 and a 52 week high of $40.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. BP’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.30%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BP. BNP Paribas lowered shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 27th. Scotiabank cut BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of BP from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.10.

BP Company Profile

BP p.l.c. provides carbon products and services. The company operates through Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, and Customers & Products segments. It engages in the production of natural gas, and integrated gas and power; trading of gas; operation of onshore and offshore wind power, as well as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage facilities; trading and marketing of renewable and non-renewable power; and production of crude oil.