MSH Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,752 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Patten Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.5% during the first quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 5,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $719,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% in the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 20,182 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 21,144 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 16,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP opened at $130.72 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.11. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $85.57 and a one year high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%.The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on COP. Capital One Financial dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings raised ConocoPhillips from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.21.

About ConocoPhillips

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.