ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Short Interest Update

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,870,000 shares, a growth of 11.2% from the October 31st total of 22,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after purchasing an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COP. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price target (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock traded down $2.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $106.23. 4,102,503 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,990,479. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $108.77 and a 200 day moving average of $110.72. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $101.29 and a 1-year high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $122.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.