BP (NYSE:BP) Given New $39.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

BP (NYSE:BP) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

BP has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on BP from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BP from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of BP from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $49.90 to $41.50 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of BP from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a neutral rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of BP in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $44.23.

BP Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $34.08 on Wednesday. BP has a 12 month low of $33.52 and a 12 month high of $40.84. The firm has a market cap of $94.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.56.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.08. BP had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $47.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. BP’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BP will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. BP’s dividend payout ratio is 53.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PSquared Asset Management AG acquired a new position in shares of BP during the fourth quarter worth about $50,315,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC boosted its position in BP by 145.5% during the 4th quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 656,293 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $23,233,000 after acquiring an additional 388,931 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 26.7% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 629,568 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $22,727,000 after purchasing an additional 132,750 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of BP by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 487,648 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,263,000 after purchasing an additional 59,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its position in BP by 4.6% in the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 431,655 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $15,583,000 after purchasing an additional 19,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.