BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

15 Jun 2026, 18:40 by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat Gem

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 9,136,996 shares, a drop of 39.8% from the May 14th total of 15,186,793 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,052,826 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in shares of BP by 1,068.3% during the 4th quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of BP by 76.2% during the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut shares of BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $57.00 price target on shares of BP and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BP from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BP from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.14.

View Our Latest Report on BP

BP Stock Performance

BP stock traded down $1.19 on Monday, hitting $41.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,503,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,951,666. BP has a 12-month low of $29.58 and a 12-month high of $48.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.41. The stock has a market cap of $108.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.14.

BP (NYSE:BP – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.24. BP had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $52.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BP will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 165.00%.

About BP

(Get Free Report)

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.