BP (NYSE:BP) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Earnings Miss

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $27.21 and last traded at $27.49, with a volume of 13147991 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.07.

The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.03). BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The business had revenue of $46.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. BP’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,375.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BP. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of BP in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James increased their target price on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.73.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in BP by 486.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,644 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $94,195,000 after buying an additional 2,312,687 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of BP by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,810,000 after acquiring an additional 38,759 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $19,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,436 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its stake in shares of BP by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 465,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,753,000 after purchasing an additional 10,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its position in BP by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 274,735 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $9,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Up 1.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $75.70 billion, a PE ratio of 348.61, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.71.

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.