Independent Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in ConocoPhillips $COP

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,507 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COP. AXA S.A. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 91.1% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 84,937 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after buying an additional 40,499 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 784,368 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $70,397,000 after acquiring an additional 44,852 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth approximately $151,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 53.5% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on COP. UBS Group reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Susquehanna increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of COP opened at $115.67 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $85.57 and a 1 year high of $135.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

About ConocoPhillips

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.