ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $137.47.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,705,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10,634.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,205,666 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $126,933,000 after buying an additional 1,194,434 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.3% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $717,093,000 after buying an additional 1,101,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after buying an additional 1,015,158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE COP opened at $113.60 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.21. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.59%.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.