Wall Street Zen Downgrades BP (NYSE:BP) to Hold

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of BP from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BP from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI set a $38.00 target price on shares of BP and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.41.

BP Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE:BP traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.52. The stock had a trading volume of 7,872,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,055,593. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $95.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.32. BP has a 1-year low of $25.22 and a 1-year high of $37.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.50.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $48.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.76 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 0.79%.BP’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in BP by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 38,809 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 6,321 shares in the last quarter. Northland Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,671 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its holdings in BP by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 2,760 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About BP

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.