BP (NYSE:BP) Given New $44.00 Price Target at TD Securities

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price target lifted by TD Securities from $43.00 to $44.00 in a report published on Wednesday, BayStreet.CA reports. TD Securities currently has a buy rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

BP has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of BP from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $38.60 to $42.30 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James upped their price target on BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on BP from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $43.88.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock traded up $0.51 on Wednesday, hitting $38.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,566,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,617,147. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. BP has a 1 year low of $33.52 and a 1 year high of $40.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $38.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.45. The company has a market capitalization of $107.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.67.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.06). BP had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The business had revenue of $48.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.66 EPS. BP’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BP will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.4362 dividend. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BP. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of BP during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in BP during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in BP by 576.0% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BP during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in BP by 200.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. 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.