Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 4,945,738 shares, a drop of 33.0% from the July 30th total of 7,381,797 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,839,091 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Phillips 66

In other news, CFO Kevin J. Mitchell sold 11,021 shares of Phillips 66 stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.03, for a total transaction of $2,094,320.63. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 97,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,504,361.28. This trade represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Brian Mandell sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $6,450,000.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,507 shares of company stock valued at $21,770,810. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phillips 66

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC grew its position in Phillips 66 by 134.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 390 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 0.3% in the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 337,441 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $57,044,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 in the second quarter worth $2,062,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 22,604.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 106,125,026 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,940,436,000 after buying an additional 105,657,607 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 96.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PSX has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Phillips 66 from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Phillips 66 from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $212.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Phillips 66 to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Phillips 66 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Phillips 66 Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Phillips 66 stock opened at $256.02 on Thursday. Phillips 66 has a 12-month low of $126.74 and a 12-month high of $258.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $211.06 and its 200-day moving average is $184.73.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.50 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $52.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 23.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Phillips 66 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.95%.

Phillips 66 declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 11.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.