StockNews.com Downgrades BP (NYSE:BP) to Buy

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on BP. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of BP from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $38.60 to $42.30 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of BP from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BP presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.88.

BP Stock Up 0.4 %

BP stock opened at $36.10 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $33.52 and a fifty-two week high of $40.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.53. The stock has a market cap of $100.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.65.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $48.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.65 billion. BP had a net margin of 4.51% and a return on equity of 13.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BP will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in BP during the first quarter worth $32,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in BP by 576.0% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.