United Community Bank Has $273,000 Stock Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

United Community Bank boosted its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,232 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in BP were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of BP by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 93,615 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,767,000 after acquiring an additional 20,491 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $588,000. Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of BP by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 272,527 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $8,056,000 after buying an additional 38,751 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of BP by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,040,000 after acquiring an additional 110,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its position in shares of BP by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 465,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,753,000 after acquiring an additional 10,262 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.26.

BP Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of BP stock opened at $32.09 on Friday. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $27.82 and a 52-week high of $40.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $85.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 401.21, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.98%. BP’s payout ratio is currently 2,375.00%.

BP 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.