BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Short Interest Update

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,860,000 shares, a decline of 10.7% from the May 31st total of 6,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BP. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of BP from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a report on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of BP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BP by 576.0% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Performance

NYSE BP traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $36.97. 3,536,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,759,398. The company has a market cap of $103.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a 12-month low of $33.52 and a 12-month high of $40.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.92 and a 200 day moving average of $36.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.06). BP had a net margin of 4.51% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The company had revenue of $48.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BP will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.4362 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.92%.

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.