Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on BP (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 35,593 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 46% compared to the average volume of 24,339 call options.

BP Trading Down 1.4 %

BP traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,494,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,645,795. The firm has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.65. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.57.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. BP’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on BP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised BP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank downgraded shares of BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.73.

Institutional Trading of BP

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in shares of BP by 2.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 13,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in BP by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of BP by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp lifted its position in shares of BP by 0.3% during the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 128,246 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BP by 5.4% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,001 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.