Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes Position in BP p.l.c. $BP

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 598,635 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,136,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in BP in the 4th quarter valued at $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP raised its position in shares of BP by 125.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter worth $8,335,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in BP by 20.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 432,646 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $20,334,000 after buying an additional 74,243 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane set a $57.00 target price on BP and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BP from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research cut shares of BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. 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, July 16th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.59.

BP Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE BP opened at $43.85 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.34. BP p.l.c. has a twelve month low of $31.58 and a twelve month high of $48.27. The company has a market capitalization of $114.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.17.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $52.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.50 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 1.62%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 164.17%.

More BP News

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BP is reportedly in advanced talks to sell its Lightsource solar business to a Kuwait-backed group, which could raise cash and sharpen the company’s focus on higher-return core energy assets. BP nears deal to sell solar business to Kuwait-backed consortium, FT reports
• Positive Sentiment: The sale would likely reduce BP’s exposure to a less strategic renewables segment and could support investor confidence in management’s capital-allocation discipline. BP ‘finds buyer’ for its last renewable power business
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage coverage remains constructive, with BP listed at a consensus “Moderate Buy,” which may help support the stock but is not a new operational catalyst. BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Several market-commentary pieces noted BP’s recent momentum and investor attention, but these are largely sentiment-driven and do not change the company’s fundamentals on their own. Here’s Why BP (BP) is a Strong Momentum Stock

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.