Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on PSX. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Phillips 66 from $218.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Phillips 66 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Phillips 66 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $207.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Phillips 66 from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.76.

Phillips 66 Stock Performance

NYSE PSX opened at $259.43 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $217.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.47. Phillips 66 has a 1 year low of $126.74 and a 1 year high of $261.00.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.50 by $1.91. Phillips 66 had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 19.93%. The company had revenue of $52.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 24.07 EPS for the current year.

Phillips 66 declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 11.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Phillips 66 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Phillips 66’s payout ratio is 28.95%.

Insider Transactions at Phillips 66

In related news, EVP Brian Mandell sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total transaction of $6,450,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 61,595 shares in the company, valued at $13,242,925. The trade was a 32.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Mitchell sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.03, for a total value of $2,094,320.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 97,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,504,361.28. This represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,507 shares of company stock worth $21,770,810. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phillips 66

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PSX. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Phillips 66 by 22,604.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 106,125,026 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,940,436,000 after acquiring an additional 105,657,607 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the second quarter worth approximately $5,766,779,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter worth $1,093,206,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Phillips 66 during the 4th quarter valued at $640,206,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at $469,970,000. Institutional investors own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Phillips 66 Company Profile

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.