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How to buy BP p-l-c stock
Own BP p-l-c stock in just a few minutes.
BP p.l.c is an oil & gas integrated business based in the US. BP p-l-c shares (BP) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. BP p-l-c employs 67,600 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$229.6 billion.
How to buy shares in BP p-l-c
- Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
- Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
- Search for BP p-l-c Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: BP. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
- Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until BP p-l-c reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
- Decide on how many to buy. Weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of BP p-l-c, depending on your broker.
- Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of BP p-l-c. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.
What's in this guide?
- BP p-l-c shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is BP p-l-c stock a buy or sell?
- BP p-l-c performance over time
- Can I short BP p-l-c shares?
- Are BP p-l-c shares over-valued?
- BP p-l-c's financials
- How volatile are BP p-l-c shares?
- Does BP p-l-c pay a dividend?
- Have BP p-l-c shares ever split?
- Other common questions
BP p-l-c share price
Use our graph to track the performance of BP stocks over time.BP p-l-c shares at a glance
Information last updated 2020-09-07.
| 52-week range | USD$15.51 - USD$40.08 |
|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | USD$22.5118 |
| 200-day moving average | USD$24.0454 |
| Wall St. target price | USD$30.88 |
| PE ratio | 20.6285 |
| Dividend yield | USD$1.26 (6.13%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | USD$1.404 |
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Is it a good time to buy BP p-l-c stock?
The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.
This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.
BP p-l-c price performance over time
Historical closes compared with the last close of $N/A
| 1 week (2020-09-07) | N/A |
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| 1 month (2020-08-14) | N/A |
| 3 months (2020-06-14) | N/A |
| 6 months (2020-03-14) | N/A |
| 1 year (2019-09-14) | N/A |
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| 2 years (2018-09-14) | N/A |
| 3 years (2017-09-14) | N/A |
| 5 years (2015-09-14) | N/A |
Is BP p-l-c under- or over-valued?
Valuing BP p-l-c stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of BP p-l-c's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
BP p-l-c's P/E ratio
BP p-l-c's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 21x. In other words, BP p-l-c shares trade at around 21x recent earnings.
That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.
BP p-l-c's PEG ratio
BP p-l-c's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.25. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into BP p-l-c's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
BP p-l-c's EBITDA
BP p-l-c's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$20.2 billion.
The EBITDA is a measure of a BP p-l-c's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
BP p-l-c financials
| Revenue TTM | USD$229.6 billion |
|---|---|
| Gross profit TTM | USD$45.7 billion |
| Return on assets TTM | -2.25% |
| Return on equity TTM | -24.27% |
| Profit margin | -9.56% |
| Book value | $20.43 |
| Market capitalisation | USD$69.2 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
Shorting BP p-l-c shares
There are currently 6.8 million BP p-l-c shares held short by investors – that's known as BP p-l-c's "short interest". This figure is 27.8% down from 9.5 million last month.
There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting BP p-l-c shares can be evaluated.
BP p-l-c's "short interest ratio" (SIR)
BP p-l-c's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of BP p-l-c shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of BP p-l-c shares traded daily (recently around 9.0 million). BP p-l-c's SIR currently stands at 0.76. In other words for every 100,000 BP p-l-c shares traded daily on the market, roughly 760 shares are currently held short.
However BP p-l-c's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of BP p-l-c shares, or, against the total number of tradable BP p-l-c shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case BP p-l-c's short interest could be expressed as 0% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 BP p-l-c shares in existence, roughly 0 shares are currently held short) or 0% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable BP p-l-c shares, roughly 0 shares are currently held short).
Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against BP p-l-c.
Find out more about how you can short BP p-l-c stock.
BP p-l-c share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 207.81% of net profits
Recently BP p-l-c has paid out, on average, around 207.81% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 6.13% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), BP p-l-c shareholders could enjoy a 6.13% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In BP p-l-c's case, that would currently equate to about $1.26 per share.
BP p-l-c's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.
BP p-l-c's most recent dividend payout was on 25 September 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 13 August 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").
Have BP p-l-c's shares ever split?
BP p-l-c's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 4 October 1999. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your BP p-l-c shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for BP p-l-c shares which in turn could have impacted BP p-l-c's share price.
BP p-l-c share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, BP p-l-c's shares have ranged in value from as little as $15.51 up to $40.08. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while BP p-l-c's is 0.4813. This would suggest that BP p-l-c's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).
BP p-l-c overview
BP PLC engages in the energy business worldwide. It operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Rosneft. The Upstream segment is involved in the oil and natural gas exploration, and field development and production; midstream transportation, storage, and processing; and marketing and trading of liquefied natural gas (LNG), biogas, power, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). This segment also engages in the ownership and management of crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing facilities and transportation, as well as NGLs processing business. The Downstream segment refines, manufactures, markets, transports, supplies, and trades in crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemical products and related services to wholesale and retail customers. It offers gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels; lubricants, and related products and services to the automotive, industrial, marine, and energy markets under the Castrol, BP, and Aral brands; and petrochemical products, such as purified terephthalic acid, paraxylene, acetic acid, olefins and derivatives, and specialty petrochemical products. The Rosneft segment engages in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons, as well as jet fuel, bunkering, bitumen, and lubricants activities. This segment also owns and operates 13 refineries in Russia; and approximately 3,000 retail service stations in Russia and internationally. The company also produces ethanol, bio-isobutanol, bio-power, and solar energy; transports hydrocarbon products through time-chartered and spot-chartered vessels; and holds interests in wind sites. BP PLC was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
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