BP (NYSE:BP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday after HSBC upgraded the stock from a reduce rating to a hold rating. HSBC now has a $45.30 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.10. Approximately 11,540,398 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the previous session’s volume of 12,040,687 shares.The stock last traded at $43.7560 and had previously closed at $44.78.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Melius Research cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on BP from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BP currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of BP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in BP in the fourth quarter worth $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP boosted its stake in BP by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,141,000 after buying an additional 274,381 shares during the period. Milford Funds Ltd. bought a new position in BP during the fourth quarter valued at $8,335,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BP by 206.0% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,849 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,568,000 after acquiring an additional 170,221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Down 2.4%

The stock has a market cap of $114.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,385.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.26.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -19,800.00%.

About BP

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.