Zacks Research Has Bearish Estimate for BP FY2024 Earnings

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) – Research analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of BP in a research note issued on Thursday, December 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the oil and gas exploration company will earn $3.45 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $3.53. The consensus estimate for BP’s current full-year earnings is $3.55 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for BP’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.65 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.80 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.04 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.80 EPS.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other research firms have also commented on BP. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank cut BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of BP from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.10.

BP Stock Up 0.1 %

BP opened at $28.79 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.67 and a 200 day moving average of $32.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. BP has a 12 month low of $27.82 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The company has a market cap of $76.92 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BP. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its position in BP by 2.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 13,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in BP by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp increased its stake in BP by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 128,246 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in BP by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,459 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BP by 3.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,087 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.