BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target Lowered to $32.00 at Piper Sandler

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price objective lowered by Piper Sandler from $35.00 to $32.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. DZ Bank lowered shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of BP in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.06.

BP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $30.56 on Tuesday. BP has a 1-year low of $25.22 and a 1-year high of $38.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.59. The company has a market capitalization of $82.97 billion, a PE ratio of 382.05, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.03). BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company had revenue of $46.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. BP’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -413.04%.

Institutional Trading of BP

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of BP by 2,250.0% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its stake in shares of BP by 400.0% during the first quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BP by 178.0% during the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.