Short Interest in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Decreases By 7.7%

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,890,000 shares, a drop of 7.7% from the March 15th total of 6,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of BP from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of BP from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $38.60 to $42.30 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.22.

BP Stock Down 1.1 %

BP stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.63. 13,299,501 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,467,914. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $108.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.45. BP has a 1-year low of $33.52 and a 1-year high of $40.84.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.11. BP had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The company had revenue of $52.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BP will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.4362 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $1.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.79%.

Institutional Trading of BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in BP during the first quarter worth $30,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in BP during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in shares of BP in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in BP by 576.0% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,129 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.