Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Phillips 66, with 12 buy, two strong-buy and six hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is $241.56.
• Phillips 66 significantly exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $9.41 in EPS versus the $7.50 consensus and revenue of $52.04 billion versus $43.60 billion expected.
• The company authorized a $10 billion share-repurchase program, potentially covering 11.8% of outstanding shares, and pays an annualized dividend of $5.08 per share, yielding about 2.0%.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $241.56.

Several research firms recently weighed in on PSX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Phillips 66 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $183.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $196.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Phillips 66 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $207.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Phillips 66 Stock Performance

NYSE:PSX opened at $255.52 on Friday. Phillips 66 has a 12 month low of $126.74 and a 12 month high of $277.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.71. The business's fifty day moving average price is $236.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.67.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.50 by $1.91. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 4.54%.The company had revenue of $52.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 28.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 11.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Phillips 66 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Phillips 66's payout ratio is 28.95%.

Insider Transactions at Phillips 66

In related news, EVP Richard G. Harbison sold 52,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.76, for a total value of $11,657,896.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,094 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,747,673.44. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin J. Mitchell sold 11,021 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.03, for a total value of $2,094,320.63. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 97,376 shares in the company, valued at $18,504,361.28. This represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 123,907 shares of company stock worth $27,973,214. 0.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phillips 66

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PSX. NFSG Corp lifted its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 105.6% during the first quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 146 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 NYSE: PSX is an energy company that operates across the midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing sectors. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company was established in 2012 when ConocoPhillips separated its downstream businesses into an independent company.

The company's midstream operations include transportation, processing, storage and other infrastructure for crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Phillips 66 also owns and operates refineries that process crude oil into transportation fuels, lubricants, specialty products and other refined petroleum products.

Phillips 66 markets gasoline, diesel and other fuels under the Phillips 66, Conoco and 76 brands, primarily in the United States.

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