BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target Cut to $35.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

by · The Markets Daily

BP (NYSE:BP – Free Report) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. HSBC lowered shares of BP from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of BP from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the company from $49.90 to $41.50 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of BP to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an outperform rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $43.73.

Read Our Latest Analysis on BP

BP Price Performance

BP opened at $31.42 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.85. BP has a fifty-two week low of $30.52 and a fifty-two week high of $40.84. The firm has a market cap of $87.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

BP (NYSE:BP – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.08. BP had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The company had revenue of $47.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. BP’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BP will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in BP during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BP during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in BP during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in BP by 576.0% in 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 buying an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of BP by 85.7% during the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

About BP

(Get Free Report)

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.

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