Brokerages Set BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) PT at $37.48

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.48.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BP shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of BP in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price objective on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in BP by 4.8% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,123 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in BP by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,459 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in BP by 3.8% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 343,880 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $10,795,000 after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of BP by 4.5% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 50,333 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in BP by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $27.91 on Friday. BP has a one year low of $25.22 and a one year high of $40.40. The stock has a market cap of $75.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 348.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.16.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. Equities analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.88%. BP’s payout ratio is 2,375.00%.

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.