Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $261.00 and last traded at $260.1370, with a volume of 211365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.09.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PSX. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $218.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Phillips 66 from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $191.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Phillips 66 from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.76.

Insider Activity

In other Phillips 66 news, CFO Kevin Mitchell sold 11,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.03, for a total value of $2,094,320.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Vanessa Sutherland sold 3,523 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $5,811,683.85. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 valued at $21,770,810. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phillips 66

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 in the second quarter valued at about $384,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its holdings 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 worth $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 8,783 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Phillips 66 by 543.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 128,156 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,348,000 after buying an additional 108,248 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,766,779,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 614,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $79,238,000 after buying an additional 11,960 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Phillips 66 Stock Up 0.8%

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 $104.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $219.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.21.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.50 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $52.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Phillips 66 will post 24.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Phillips 66 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.95%.

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

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.