ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Coverage Initiated at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has initiated coverage of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) with an "equal weight" rating and a price target of $100.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.17% from the current stock price.
• Analysts from various firms have varied ratings for ConocoPhillips, with a consensus of 16 analysts rating it as a Buy and 6 giving it a Hold rating, indicating general optimism towards the stock.
• ConocoPhillips reported a Q2 EPS of $1.42, exceeding estimates, and saw revenue growth of 4.3% year-over-year, with expectations for an EPS of 8.16 for the current year.

Investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm set an "equal weight" rating and a $100.00 price target on the energy producer's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price points to a potential upside of 15.17% from the company's current price.

COP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $124.00 to $122.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.04.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $86.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $115.38. The company has a market capitalization of $108.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.62.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The company had revenue of $14.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 159.6% in the 1st quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 48,800 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 801,426 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $83,969,000 after buying an additional 264,726 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 154,360 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $13,927,000 after buying an additional 22,827 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 37,361 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,924,000 after buying an additional 5,627 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 316.6% during the 1st quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 10,769 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 8,184 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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