BP (NYSE:BP) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

BP (NYSE:BP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm currently has a $49.40 target price on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 10.60% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on BP. Argus raised shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Melius Research downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on BP from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $41.00 price objective on BP in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.18.

BP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BP traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $44.67. 14,796,249 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,710,932. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.31. The company has a market cap of $117.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4,460.54, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.31. BP has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $46.79.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.03. BP had a net margin of 0.03% and a return on equity of 9.68%. The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BP. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new position in BP during the fourth quarter valued at $67,890,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 4th quarter worth about $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP boosted its stake in BP by 125.2% in the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,141,000 after purchasing an additional 274,381 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in BP by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,628,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bollard Group LLC raised its holdings in BP by 12.7% in the second quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 337,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,108,000 after buying an additional 37,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.