Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,499 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,607 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $7,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth $30,021,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 83.8% in the second quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 16,427 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,490 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 23.6% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,488,000 after purchasing an additional 13,595 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 37.8% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 30,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 8,231 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $107.42 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $123.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $101.29 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $108.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.98.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.63.

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.