Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BP (NYSE:BP) Stock Price

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $34.70 to $31.80 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BP currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.89.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP opened at $31.13 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.44 and its 200-day moving average is $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a fifty-two week low of $27.82 and a fifty-two week high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business 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%. BP’s revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that BP will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of BP by 9.9% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 233,776 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,338,000 after acquiring an additional 20,976 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in BP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $857,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its stake in shares of BP by 5.4% in the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 23,325 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 860.7% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,464 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after buying an additional 59,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in BP by 2.6% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 646,102 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $20,281,000 after buying an additional 16,534 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Company Profile

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.