BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target Raised to $37.00

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price target lifted by Raymond James from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of BP from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.76.

BP Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BP stock opened at $31.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.80. The company has a market capitalization of $84.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.37, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. BP has a 12-month low of $27.82 and a 12-month high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that BP will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.06%. BP’s payout ratio is 200.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in BP by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,436 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its stake in BP by 5.4% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,282,000 after buying an additional 23,325 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in BP by 1.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 440,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,842,000 after buying an additional 5,150 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in BP by 2.2% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 360,050 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $12,998,000 after acquiring an additional 7,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in BP by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 343,880 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,795,000 after acquiring an additional 12,700 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BP

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.