Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $261.00 and last traded at $260.1370, with a volume of 211365 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $255.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PSX. Argus upped their price target on Phillips 66 from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $235.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $239.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Phillips 66 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Phillips 66 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.76.

Phillips 66 Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $216.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.75.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.50 by $1.91. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 4.54%.The firm had revenue of $52.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Phillips 66 will post 24.07 EPS for the current year.

Phillips 66 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.95%.

Phillips 66 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 11.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Phillips 66

In other Phillips 66 news, EVP Brian Mandell sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total transaction of $6,450,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 61,595 shares in the company, valued at $13,242,925. This represents a 32.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevin J. Mitchell sold 11,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.03, for a total transaction of $2,094,320.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 97,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,504,361.28. This represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,507 shares of company stock worth $21,770,810. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Phillips 66

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PSX. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter valued at $384,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its position in Phillips 66 by 113.5% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 16,518 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 8,783 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Phillips 66 by 543.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 128,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,348,000 after acquiring an additional 108,248 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the second quarter worth about $5,766,779,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the second quarter worth about $724,000. 76.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an independent energy manufacturing and logistics company engaged primarily in refining, midstream transportation, marketing and chemicals. The company processes crude oil into transportation fuels, lubricants and other petroleum products, operates pipeline and storage infrastructure, and participates in petrochemical production through strategic investments. Phillips 66 serves commercial, industrial and retail customers and positions its operations across the value chain of the downstream energy sector.

The company’s principal activities include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstocks for petrochemical production; operating midstream assets such as pipelines, terminals and fractionators that move and store crude oil and natural gas liquids; and marketing and distributing fuels and lubricants through wholesale and retail channels.