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

First Horizon Advisors Inc. reduced its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,867 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 392 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in BP by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 23,581 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new position in BP in the third quarter worth $1,122,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its stake in BP by 0.4% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 184,220 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BP by 5.6% during the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Syon Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $662,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:BP opened at $38.70 on Monday. BP p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $33.52 and a 1 year high of $40.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.85 and a 200-day moving average of $36.47. 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 stock has a market cap of $108.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.60, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.67.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $1.59 EPS. BP’s revenue was down 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.4362 per share. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Scotiabank raised their price target on BP from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.60 to $42.30 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.72.

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.