Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $118.00 to $152.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the energy producer’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.63% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.08.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $131.45 on Wednesday. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $135.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $117.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total transaction of $1,003,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,431.36. This represents a 20.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $4,128,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,689.92. The trade was a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COP. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.