Raymond James Boosts BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target to $45.00

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price target increased by Raymond James from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

BP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of BP from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of BP from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised BP from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $38.60 to $42.30 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank raised BP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on BP from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $43.22.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $38.35 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.68. BP has a 52 week low of $33.52 and a 52 week high of $40.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.46.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $52.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.14 billion. BP had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.59 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that BP will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.4362 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. BP’s payout ratio is currently 33.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BP by 576.0% in the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.