BP p.l.c. $BP Stake Raised by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 0.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 164,318 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in BP were worth $4,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its position in BP by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 178.0% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Acima Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 743.3% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,754 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $33.52 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.92. BP p.l.c. has a one year low of $25.22 and a one year high of $35.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.27 billion, a PE ratio of 159.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.54.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $46.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.88 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 9.08%. BP’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.4942 per share. This represents a $1.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 942.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. DZ Bank raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

BP 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.