Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PSX. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $180.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $191.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Phillips 66 from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $185.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $183.00 to $204.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $196.06.

Phillips 66 Stock Performance

PSX opened at $208.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $179.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.69. Phillips 66 has a 12-month low of $118.07 and a 12-month high of $211.05.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54) by $1.03. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 2.99%.The company had revenue of $32.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.90) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Phillips 66 will post 19.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Phillips 66 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.05%.

Insider Activity at Phillips 66

In other Phillips 66 news, CFO Kevin J. Mitchell sold 29,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $4,998,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 97,376 shares in the company, valued at $16,553,920. This represents a 23.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin Omar Meyers acquired 175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $173.12 per share, with a total value of $30,296.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 16,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,908,242.88. This represents a 1.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 41,021 shares of company stock valued at $7,195,257 in the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phillips 66

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc raised its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 113.5% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 16,518 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 8,783 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Phillips 66 by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,371,804 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $177,018,000 after purchasing an additional 199,646 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Phillips 66 by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 675,084 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $87,113,000 after purchasing an additional 10,585 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in Phillips 66 by 478.4% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 63,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,167,000 after purchasing an additional 52,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Phillips 66 by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 53,901 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,958,000 after buying an additional 9,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an independent energy manufacturing and logistics company engaged primarily in refining, midstream transportation, marketing and chemicals. The company processes crude oil into transportation fuels, lubricants and other petroleum products, operates pipeline and storage infrastructure, and participates in petrochemical production through strategic investments. Phillips 66 serves commercial, industrial and retail customers and positions its operations across the value chain of the downstream energy sector.

The company’s principal activities include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstocks for petrochemical production; operating midstream assets such as pipelines, terminals and fractionators that move and store crude oil and natural gas liquids; and marketing and distributing fuels and lubricants through wholesale and retail channels.