Business

How low will BP’s stock go?

Wall Street analysts aren’t sure anymore where BP’s faltering stock is going.

Faced with ever-rising estimates of how much oil is spilling into the Gulf every day and unknown BP financial liabilities, more and more analysts are giving up trying to put a target price on the volatile shares.

Nearly half of the analysts who’ve been firmly bullish on BP even after its oil-rig tragedy struck eight weeks ago have turned their backs on their time-honored practice of valuing shares as a guide to help investors make trades.

“We’re just not making a target anymore,” said Pavel Molchanov of Raymond James & Associates, who’s downgraded the shares and replaced his earlier $67-per-share target price with, well, nothing.

The desertions came as Fitch harshly downgraded BP’s credit yesterday by six notches, leaving it lingering just two notches above a junk investment. The move clobbered BP’s debt securities, making it much more expensive should BP be forced to borrow money.

BP shares traded in London hit a new low yesterday, while separately traded US shares inched up 73 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $31.40.

Meanwhile, Crain’s New York Business reported that the stock drop has cost the city’s employee retirement plans an estimated $70 million so far.