Analysts Set BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Target Price at $38.76

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.76.

Several equities analysts have commented on BP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Scotiabank cut shares of BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in shares of BP by 404.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of BP by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of BP in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 32.5% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP opened at $31.14 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $84.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a 1-year low of $27.82 and a 1-year high of $40.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BP will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued 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 dividend yield of 6.17%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 200.00%.

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.