Encore Global Management LP Purchases New Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

Encore Global Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 17,000 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,000. ConocoPhillips makes up 1.6% of Encore Global Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 151.0% in the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Optima Capital LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price target on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.16.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP opened at $114.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $138.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.10 and a 200 day moving average of $114.60. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $85.57 and a 12 month high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 57.05%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.