Scotiabank Equities Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for BP

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) – Stock analysts at Scotiabank decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of BP in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank analyst P. Cheng now expects that the oil and gas exploration company will post earnings per share of $3.40 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $3.90. Scotiabank currently has a “Sector Perform” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for BP’s current full-year earnings is $3.55 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for BP’s FY2025 earnings at $2.85 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.90 EPS.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The business had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BP. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. BNP Paribas cut BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of BP from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.89.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BP opened at $31.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $83.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64. BP has a 12 month low of $27.82 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.03.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in BP by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 29,235 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank boosted its position in shares of BP by 3.8% during the second quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 29,655 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of BP by 37.9% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,609 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co grew its stake in BP by 10.1% during the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 13,571 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in BP by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 212,800 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $7,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,575 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is 200.00%.

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.