Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Makes New $2.63 Million Investment in BP p.l.c. $BP

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 59,859 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,633,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,410,714 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $52,307,000 after acquiring an additional 192,211 shares in the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP grew its position in BP by 322.4% during the 2nd quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 619,670 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $22,897,000 after acquiring an additional 472,974 shares during the last quarter. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. acquired a new position in BP in the 2nd quarter worth about $23,094,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in BP by 611.2% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 111,585 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 95,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in BP in the second quarter valued at about $1,592,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on BP in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BP from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of BP to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.90.

BP Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of BP opened at $44.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $116.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.10, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.16. BP p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $33.22 and a 12 month high of $51.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.60. BP had a return on equity of 24.67% and a net margin of 3.74%. The company had revenue of $68.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 8.37 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.5196 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.59%.

BP Profile

BP p.l.c. is a global integrated energy company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its operations span the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, as well as the processing, refining, transportation and marketing of energy products.

Through its businesses, BP supplies fuels for road transportation, aviation and marine use, along with lubricants marketed under the Castrol brand. The company also operates retail fuel and convenience locations and provides energy products and services to commercial and industrial customers.

BP has expanded its activities beyond traditional hydrocarbons to include lower-carbon businesses such as renewable power, bioenergy, electric-vehicle charging and hydrogen.