BP (NYSE:BP) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.76.

BP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BP opened at $31.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $83.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.75, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a twelve month low of $27.82 and a twelve month high of $40.40. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $30.00 and a 200 day moving average of $31.55.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BP will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of BP by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 233,776 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,338,000 after acquiring an additional 20,976 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in BP by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,360 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 24,252 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,436 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP in the third quarter worth about $857,000. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in BP by 5.4% in the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,282,000 after buying an additional 23,325 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently 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.