Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Stock Falls 4.6% – Here’s Why

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)’s stock price fell 4.6% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $251.13 and last traded at $259.3850. Approximately 5,473,391 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 92% from the average session volume of 2,846,241 shares. The stock had previously closed at $271.94.

Key Phillips 66 News

Here are the key news stories impacting Phillips 66 this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Phillips 66 agreed to a long-term supply arrangement with Restaurant Technologies for used cooking oil, a domestic feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel at its Rodeo Renewable Energy Complex. The deal supports feedstock access and the company’s lower-carbon fuels business. Article: Phillips 66 Secures Long Term Used Cooking Oil Supply For Renewable Fuels
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley issued a Buy rating, signaling an analyst view that the shares could appreciate. Article: Morgan Stanley Issues a Buy Rating on Phillips 66
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $302 from $297 but maintained a Neutral rating, indicating a higher valuation view without a change in its overall recommendation. Article: Citigroup Adjusts Price Target on Phillips 66
• Negative Sentiment: One report described a steep one-session drop in PSX shares. The article highlights the decline but does not establish a specific reason for it, so the move may reflect selling pressure rather than a clearly reported company development. Article: Phillips 66 Drops in One Session

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on PSX. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Phillips 66 from $284.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Phillips 66 from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Phillips 66 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on Phillips 66 from $235.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Phillips 66 from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.12.

Phillips 66 Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $267.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $199.84. The company has a market capitalization of $101.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 0.69.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported $14.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.73 by $2.35. Phillips 66 had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 33.12%. The business had revenue of $50.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 33.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.33 per share. This represents a $5.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This is a positive change from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. Phillips 66’s payout ratio is currently 16.22%.

Phillips 66 declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to buy back $10 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 11.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Phillips 66

In other Phillips 66 news, EVP Richard Harbison sold 52,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.76, for a total value of $11,657,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,747,673.44. This trade represents a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Mandell sold 23,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total value of $6,202,404.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 61,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,326,370.70. This trade represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 108,800 shares of company stock worth $25,016,566 over the last three months. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phillips 66

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the second quarter valued at $5,766,779,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,044,694 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,402,856,000 after purchasing an additional 271,841 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Phillips 66 in the second quarter worth about $1,093,206,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 62.0% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,667,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $668,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Phillips 66 by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,971,036 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $541,263,000 after buying an additional 35,167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Phillips 66 Company Profile

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an energy manufacturing and logistics company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was established in 2012 following the separation of ConocoPhillips’ downstream and midstream businesses.

Phillips 66 operates across midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing. Its midstream activities include gathering, processing, transporting and storing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Through its refining operations, the company converts crude oil and other feedstocks into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants and other refined petroleum products.

The company markets fuel and related products under the Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco brands, serving retail, commercial, aviation and industrial customers.