Investors Purchase High Volume of BP Call Options (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 35,593 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 46% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,339 call options.

BP Stock Down 1.2 %

BP stock opened at $28.96 on Wednesday. BP has a twelve month low of $27.82 and a twelve month high of $40.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.51.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. BP’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that BP will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. BP’s payout ratio is presently 200.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on BP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.73.

Institutional Trading of BP

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Vima LLC lifted its stake in shares of BP by 4.9% in the first quarter. Vima LLC now owns 9,994 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,589 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 1,344 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in BP by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 43,064 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after buying an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in BP by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.