Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

PSX has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Phillips 66 from $235.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Phillips 66 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Phillips 66 from $180.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Phillips 66 from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Phillips 66 from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $212.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.76.

Phillips 66 Trading Up 1.7%

Phillips 66 stock opened at $259.43 on Monday. Phillips 66 has a 12-month low of $126.74 and a 12-month high of $261.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $103.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $217.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.47.

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

Phillips 66 announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 11.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Vanessa Sutherland sold 3,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.05, for a total transaction of $743,529.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 27,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,811,683.85. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Brian Mandell sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $6,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 61,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,242,925. This trade represents a 32.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,507 shares of company stock valued at $21,770,810. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Phillips 66

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PSX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 238.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after buying an additional 7,214 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,891 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,308,000 after acquiring an additional 10,089 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 28.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 157,455 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,788,000 after acquiring an additional 34,698 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 346,679 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $41,359,000 after acquiring an additional 28,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co lifted its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 8,949 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Phillips 66 Company Profile

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an energy company that operates across the midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing sectors. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company was established in 2012 when ConocoPhillips separated its downstream businesses into an independent company.

The company’s midstream operations include transportation, processing, storage and other infrastructure for crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Phillips 66 also owns and operates refineries that process crude oil into transportation fuels, lubricants, specialty products and other refined petroleum products.

Phillips 66 markets gasoline, diesel and other fuels under the Phillips 66, Conoco and 76 brands, primarily in the United States.