BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,650,000 shares, a drop of 31.7% from the February 13th total of 15,600,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.26.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of BP in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Bank & Trust Co raised its position in BP by 404.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in BP by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in BP by 58.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC raised its position in BP by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Up 3.3 %

NYSE BP opened at $33.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. BP has a 52 week low of $27.82 and a 52 week high of $40.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.48 billion, a PE ratio of 417.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.24.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. BP’s payout ratio is 2,375.00%.

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.