BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

BP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of BP from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. HSBC cut BP from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $38.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered BP from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Argus upgraded BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore set a $38.00 target price on BP and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.58.

BP Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE BP opened at $42.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. BP has a fifty-two week low of $25.22 and a fifty-two week high of $42.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.91. The stock has a market cap of $111.85 billion, a PE ratio of -4,261.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.31.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $9.43. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The company had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be issued a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. BP’s payout ratio is -19,800.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of BP by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 77,974 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,334,000 after buying an additional 4,887 shares during the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter valued at about $237,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in BP by 4.2% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 39,146 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its holdings in BP by 2,705.2% in the second quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 57,983 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 55,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BP in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

More BP News

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher oil prices on Middle East supply concerns should boost BP’s upstream margins and cash flow, making the company a direct beneficiary of the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target on BP to $47 (neutral rating), implying upside from current levels and signaling some analyst confidence in the stock’s near-term outlook. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction: coverage notes BP stock closed higher in the latest session, reflecting the combined effect of commodity tailwinds and analyst support. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Major asset managers (BlackRock, UBS, Legal & General among others) still include BP in many ESG funds despite its strategic pivot — supportive for demand but indicates mixed ESG positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Former BP executive Ashiq Merchant was named CFO of Greenland Energy/Pelican (post-merger), a move notable for industry talent flows but only indirectly relevant to BP’s fundamentals. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Senegal’s prime minister is challenging a BP gas deal and has frozen assets tied to a partner (Indorama), creating political and execution risk for BP’s projects in West Africa. This could delay development and future cash flows from the region. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Labor risk: U.S. United Steelworkers members rejected BP’s “last, best, and final” offer at the Whiting, Indiana refinery — raising the possibility of strikes, outages or higher labor costs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/legal friction: activist group Follow This says BP failed to distribute a shareholder proposal and is threatening court action — a potential governance distraction and escalation of shareholder activism. Read More.

BP Company Profile

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.