BP p.l.c. (BP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.48 on December 20th

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the oil and gas exploration company on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th.

BP has decreased its dividend by an average of 4.1% per year over the last three years. BP has a dividend payout ratio of 48.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect BP to earn $4.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 46.0%.

BP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $29.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $81.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a one year low of $29.00 and a one year high of $40.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.51.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that BP will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of BP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $49.90 to $41.50 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wolfe Research started coverage on BP in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered BP from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BNP Paribas cut shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.73.

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.