BP’s (BP) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Bank of America

Bank of America reissued their buy rating on shares of BP (LON:BP) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has a GBX 500 ($6.57) target price on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank reissued a hold rating and set a GBX 510 ($6.71) price objective on shares of BP in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a GBX 650 ($8.55) price target on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BP from GBX 550 ($7.23) to GBX 500 ($6.57) and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 636.67 ($8.37).

BP Stock Performance

Shares of LON:BP opened at GBX 413.85 ($5.44) on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of £67.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,254.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is GBX 448.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 476.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 79.91.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is a positive change from BP’s previous dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6,969.70%.

Insider Activity

In other BP news, insider Murray Auchincloss sold 454,841 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 459 ($6.04), for a total transaction of £2,087,720.19 ($2,745,194.20). In related news, insider Hina Nagarajan acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 429 ($5.64) per share, for a total transaction of £21,450 ($28,205.13). Also, insider Murray Auchincloss sold 454,841 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 459 ($6.04), for a total value of £2,087,720.19 ($2,745,194.20). In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 5,099 shares of company stock valued at $2,188,269. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.