BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,440,000 shares, an increase of 11.5% from the August 31st total of 9,360,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of BP during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in BP during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BP by 576.0% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in BP by 85.7% during the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $32.09. 13,438,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,393,570. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.77. BP has a one year low of $30.52 and a one year high of $40.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $88.89 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $47.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.82 billion. BP had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 13.83%. BP’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BP will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.98%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BP. StockNews.com upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of BP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $49.90 to $41.50 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of BP in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut BP from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, HSBC downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.73.

About BP

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.