BP (NYSE:BP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 32,072,828 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 250% from the previous session’s volume of 9,155,544 shares.The stock last traded at $34.59 and had previously closed at $34.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 target price on BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank cut shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.48.

BP Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $92.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 432.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.27.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. On average, equities research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.55%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,375.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in BP by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,040,000 after buying an additional 110,019 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter valued at $588,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 83.3% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,360 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 24,252 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of BP by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 272,527 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $8,056,000 after purchasing an additional 38,751 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in BP by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,436 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by 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.