BP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 128,060 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 583% compared to the typical volume of 18,739 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on BP shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on BP from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on BP from $41.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Freedom Capital raised BP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of BP from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $57.00 price objective on shares of BP and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.36.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock traded down $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $42.88. 6,207,510 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,207,725. The company has a market capitalization of $112.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.03 and its 200 day moving average is $42.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.95. BP has a 1-year low of $32.72 and a 1-year high of $48.27.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.35. BP had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm had revenue of $69.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that BP will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.5196 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. BP’s payout ratio is presently 96.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new stake in BP in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,890,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in BP by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,410,714 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $52,307,000 after buying an additional 192,211 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in BP in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,136,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in BP during the 4th quarter valued at $17,768,000. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of BP by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $17,141,000 after purchasing an additional 274,381 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Company Profile

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.