ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $142.50 and last traded at $141.2240, with a volume of 237,289 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $140.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.29.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.4%

The company has a market cap of $169.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. This trade represents a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 73.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,591,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,328,767,000 after purchasing an additional 50,116,727 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,886,457 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $9,760,436,000 after buying an additional 2,712,703 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,072,154 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,566,901,000 after buying an additional 1,609,759 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,044,489 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,457,978,000 after buying an additional 74,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,181,950 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,344,017,000 after buying an additional 995,392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas. Unlike integrated energy companies, ConocoPhillips focuses primarily on upstream activities rather than refining and retail fuel operations.

The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in major producing regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Qatar. Its U.S. operations include oil and gas developments in Alaska and the Lower 48 states, while its international portfolio includes conventional and offshore projects.