Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $277.12 and last traded at $275.1460, with a volume of 10170068 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $273.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PSX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Phillips 66 from $196.00 to $284.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Phillips 66 from $183.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $209.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Phillips 66 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.56.

Phillips 66 Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $231.07 and a 200 day moving average of $193.62. The company has a market capitalization of $108.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.50 by $1.91. The business had revenue of $52.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 28.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Phillips 66

In related news, EVP Brian Mandell sold 23,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $6,202,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 61,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,326,370.70. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vanessa Sutherland sold 3,523 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 27,537 shares in the company, valued at $5,811,683.85. The trade was a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 123,907 shares of company stock valued at $27,973,214. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phillips 66

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PSX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Phillips 66 during the second quarter valued at about $5,766,779,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,413,824 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,338,596,000 after buying an additional 45,340 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,093,206,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $640,206,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,667,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $668,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,403,493 shares during the period. 76.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Phillips 66

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.