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BP (BP) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, BP (BP - Free Report) closed at $37.98, marking a +0.77% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.57% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.43%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.33%.

Heading into today, shares of the oil and gas company had lost 5.61% over the past month, lagging the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 2.71% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.72% in that time.

BP will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect BP to post earnings of $1.60 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 16.67%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $57.58 billion, up 12.42% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.57 per share and revenue of $237.12 billion, which would represent changes of -24.83% and -4.73%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for BP. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.62% lower within the past month. BP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, BP currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 5.73. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 5.59, which means BP is trading at a premium to the group.

Investors should also note that BP has a PEG ratio of 0.84 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Oil and Gas - Integrated - International was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.7 at yesterday's closing price.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - International industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 100, putting it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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