BP (NYSE:BP) Downgraded to Sell Rating by DZ Bank

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by stock analysts at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of BP from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.76.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, reaching $34.49. 5,266,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,749,688. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.34. The firm has a market cap of $92.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.64. 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 1-year low of $27.82 and a 1-year high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced 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 net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. As a group, research analysts expect that BP will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its stake in BP by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 129,215 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of BP by 9.0% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 4,549 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in BP by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,459 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its stake in shares of BP by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 37,338 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 32.5% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.