BP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 67,824 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 58% compared to the typical volume of 42,907 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of BP by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 1.3% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY increased its holdings in shares of BP by 4.9% during the first quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 8,558 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BP by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 8,022 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co grew its position in BP by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,648 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BP opened at $30.28 on Friday. BP has a 1-year low of $25.22 and a 1-year high of $37.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -65.81, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. 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 positive return on equity of 9.51% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The firm had revenue of $46.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -413.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BP shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded BP from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 12th. TD Cowen cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 target price on shares of BP and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of BP in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.72.

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.