Clough Capital Partners L P Makes New Investment in ConocoPhillips $COP

Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 22,310 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,945,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 151.0% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Optima Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $120.30 on Monday. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $85.57 and a 52-week high of $135.87. The stock has a market cap of $146.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COP. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Capital One Financial reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.16.

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.