Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $174.35 and last traded at $176.2940, with a volume of 713974 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $169.50.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Phillips 66 from $150.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $154.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $159.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Phillips 66 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Phillips 66 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Don Baldridge sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,158,080. The trade was a 16.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin J. Mitchell sold 16,856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.22, for a total value of $2,835,516.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 97,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,380,590.72. This trade represents a 14.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,088 shares of company stock worth $6,147,655. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phillips 66

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elliott Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Phillips 66 by 22.4% in the second quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 19,251,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,296,644,000 after buying an additional 3,526,000 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 57.4% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 56,858 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,734,000 after acquiring an additional 20,742 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 5.0% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 209,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,523,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 14.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,368,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,531,702,000 after acquiring an additional 5,978,841 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Phillips 66 by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 696,577 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $83,102,000 after acquiring an additional 26,238 shares in the last quarter. 76.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Phillips 66 Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $69.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $151.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.05.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.32. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 3.22%.The firm had revenue of $32.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS. Analysts expect that Phillips 66 will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This is a boost from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Phillips 66 Company Profile

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.