Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $299.39 and last traded at $290.6160, with a volume of 1,885,450 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $293.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PSX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Phillips 66 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $276.00 price objective on shares of Phillips 66 in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Phillips 66 from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $217.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $209.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.06.

Phillips 66 Stock Down 0.9%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $258.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69 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.

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 the consensus estimate of $7.50 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $51 billion during 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 29.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $1.33 dividend. This represents a $5.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This is an increase from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio is 28.95%.

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

Insider Activity at Phillips 66

In related news, EVP Brian Mandell sold 23,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total value of $6,202,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 61,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,326,370.70. This represents a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard G. Harbison sold 52,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.76, for a total transaction of $11,657,896.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,747,673.44. The trade was a 57.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 108,800 shares of company stock worth $25,016,566 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Phillips 66

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSX. NFSG Corp lifted its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 105.6% in the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an energy manufacturing and logistics company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was established in 2012 following the separation of ConocoPhillips’ downstream and midstream businesses.

Phillips 66 operates across midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing. Its midstream activities include gathering, processing, transporting and storing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Through its refining operations, the company converts crude oil and other feedstocks into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants and other refined petroleum products.

The company markets fuel and related products under the Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco brands, serving retail, commercial, aviation and industrial customers.