UBS Group Downgrades BP (NYSE:BP) to Neutral

BP (NYSE:BP) was downgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price objective on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. DZ Bank lowered BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.48.

BP Stock Down 6.6 %

NYSE BP traded down $1.84 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.06. The stock had a trading volume of 5,983,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,604,293. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. BP has a 12 month low of $25.22 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The company has a market capitalization of $70.75 billion, a PE ratio of 327.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.41.

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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in BP by 5,751.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 207,606 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,015,000 after buying an additional 204,058 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of BP by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,040,000 after acquiring an additional 110,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 217.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,282 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 73,478 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in BP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,255,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in BP by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $27,810,000 after acquiring an additional 38,759 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.