Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for BP (NYSE:BP) Stock Price

BP (NYSE:BP) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $30.00 to $37.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on BP. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.64.

BP Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BP stock opened at $34.70 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.22. BP has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $30.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.33.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. Equities research analysts forecast that BP will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,375.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of BP by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 233,776 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,338,000 after purchasing an additional 20,976 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 24,252 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new position in BP in the 3rd quarter worth about $857,000. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in BP by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 454,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,282,000 after buying an additional 23,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.