Sound Shore Management Inc. CT Sells 283,102 Shares of BP p.l.c. $BP

Sound Shore Management Inc. CT trimmed its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,671,683 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 283,102 shares during the quarter. BP makes up about 2.6% of Sound Shore Management Inc. CT’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT’s holdings in BP were worth $78,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,628,000 after buying an additional 22,100 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in BP by 62.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 111,261 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $5,229,000 after acquiring an additional 42,894 shares in the last quarter. Milford Funds Ltd. acquired a new stake in BP in the fourth quarter valued at $8,335,000. Winning Points Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BP in the fourth quarter valued at $659,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp grew its position in shares of BP by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,933 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Key BP News

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BP is expected to announce billions of dollars of new investments in Iraq alongside ConocoPhillips, a move that could expand BP’s upstream footprint and support long-term production growth. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investment as U.S. seeks to cut Iran’s energy hold
• Positive Sentiment: Citi says BP’s biggest turnaround opportunity is in reshaping its upstream oil and gas business, reinforcing the view that the company is moving away from its prior renewables-heavy strategy. BP’s big opportunity is in its upstream oil and gas business – analyst
• Positive Sentiment: BP and ConocoPhillips are also tied to a broader redevelopment effort in Iraq’s Kirkuk oilfields, adding another upstream catalyst for BP. ConocoPhillips to buy 42% stake in BP unit tied to Iraq’s Kirkuk oilfields
• Neutral Sentiment: BP is shutting down BP Ventures and selling most minority holdings in its venture portfolio, a portfolio-optimization and deleveraging move that may improve focus but also signals a pullback from some growth bets. Oil giant BP shutters its corporate venture arm after 20 years
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group trimmed its FY2027 EPS estimate for BP slightly, which is a mild headwind but not a major change versus the broader earnings outlook. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investments, CNBC reports
• Negative Sentiment: The lower earnings estimate adds some caution around BP’s near-term profit trajectory, even though it remains below consensus only modestly. BP, ConocoPhillips to back Iraq with major investments, CNBC reports

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of BP from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane set a $57.00 price objective on BP and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on BP from $41.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised BP from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded BP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.64.

BP Stock Up 0.0%

BP stock opened at $41.91 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $41.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $109.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.17. BP p.l.c. has a twelve month low of $31.58 and a twelve month high of $48.27.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $52.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.50 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 1.62%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 165.00%.

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.