BP (NYSE:BP) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $47.24 and last traded at $47.3560, with a volume of 442499 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of BP from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $49.40 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Evercore set a $38.00 price target on shares of BP and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BP from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on BP from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.18.

BP Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $124.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,738.46, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.19 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.BP’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.4992 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. BP’s payout ratio is currently -19,700.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in BP by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,933 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in BP by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its stake in BP by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 36,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank increased its holdings in shares of BP by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 29,456 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Company Profile

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.