First Horizon Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,694 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,312 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BP. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in BP in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in BP by 404.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of BP by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in BP by 1,867.9% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 7,970 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 7,565 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $32.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 408.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.64. BP p.l.c. has a one year low of $27.82 and a one year high of $40.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.38.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. BP’s payout ratio is currently 2,375.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. DZ Bank lowered BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James increased their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.76.

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.