West Tower Group LLC Takes Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,600 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COP. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 8,131 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,035,000 after buying an additional 2,023 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 40,693 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,899,000 after buying an additional 2,201 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 13,996 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 780 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of COP stock opened at $106.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $122.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $101.29 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COP. UBS Group dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (down previously from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.