Fifth Third Bancorp Has $109.56 Million Stock Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its ConocoPhillips stake by 137.6% in the first quarter, buying an additional 480,631 shares to bring its total holding to 830,040 shares worth about $109.6 million.
• Institutional interest in ConocoPhillips remains strong, with hedge funds and other investors continuing to add positions; institutions now own 82.36% of the company.
• Analysts remain generally positive on COP, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $134.04, while the stock recently traded at $109.06 after the company beat first-quarter EPS estimates and pays a quarterly dividend yielding about 3.1%.

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 137.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 830,040 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 480,631 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.07% of ConocoPhillips worth $109,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 216.7% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 323 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 target price on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research cut ConocoPhillips from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.0%

COP stock traded up $1.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $109.06. 6,977,036 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,638,942. The firm's 50 day moving average is $114.15 and its 200 day moving average is $112.66. The firm has a market cap of $132.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $85.57 and a twelve month high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.28 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is 57.05%.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips NYSE: COP is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company's activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.

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