BP (NYSE:BP) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $44.36, but opened at $42.50. BP shares last traded at $42.65, with a volume of 4,603,446 shares traded.

BP has been the topic of a number of other reports. 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. HSBC raised shares of BP from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.10 to $45.30 in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BP from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BP from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.14.

Key Headlines Impacting BP

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BP could benefit from the Reuters report that it is set to take over as operator of the offshore Babek natural gas project in Azerbaijan, which may expand its upstream portfolio and long-term production potential. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and feature coverage highlighted BP’s broader push to balance fossil fuels with renewables, reinforcing the company’s energy-transition strategy but not changing the near-term narrative significantly. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The biggest driver of the stock move is the escalating boardroom drama: BP’s former chairman says he was removed without warning, denies misconduct, and is challenging the company’s account, keeping governance concerns in the spotlight. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Manifold met activist investor Elliott Management without informing other directors add to concerns about oversight and internal governance at BP. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Additional stories about clashes over spending, “bullying” allegations, and possible legal action are likely reinforcing investor caution and weighing on sentiment toward BP shares. Article Title

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in BP by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp raised its position in shares of BP by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,933 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BP by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in shares of BP by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 36,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank raised its position in shares of BP by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 29,456 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $108.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. BP had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $52.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. BP’s payout ratio is 165.00%.

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.