BP (NYSE:BP) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of BP (NYSE:BP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BP. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.76.

BP Stock Performance

BP stock opened at $31.14 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.96 and its 200 day moving average is $31.58. The company has a market capitalization of $84.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a twelve month low of $27.82 and a twelve month high of $40.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The business’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BP will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in BP in the second quarter valued at $75,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of BP by 860.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,464 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after acquiring an additional 59,546 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $91,000. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of BP by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 62,920 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 19,857 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.