Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Stock Falls 4.8% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Phillips 66 shares fell 4.8% in mid-day trading to about $275, with trading volume 84% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”; however, the average price target of $269.88 was below the trading price, despite recent target increases from TD Cowen and Wells Fargo.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $9.41, well above the $7.50 consensus estimate, and boosted its quarterly dividend to $1.33 while maintaining authorization for a $10 billion share-buyback program.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 4.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $275.00 and last traded at $275.0690. Approximately 464,398 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,817,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $288.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PSX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $245.00 to $274.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $295.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $276.00 target price on shares of Phillips 66 in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Phillips 66 from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $269.88.

Phillips 66 Stock Down 6.5%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $262.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.08. The firm has a market cap of $107.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.50 by $1.91. The firm had revenue of $51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.60 billion. Phillips 66 had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 19.93%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Phillips 66 will post 31.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be paid a $1.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. This is an increase from Phillips 66's previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Phillips 66's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.95%.

Phillips 66 announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Friday, July 31st that allows the company to buy back $10 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 11.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Phillips 66 news, EVP Brian Mandell sold 23,400 shares of Phillips 66 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $6,202,404.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 61,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,326,370.70. The trade was a 27.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard G. Harbison sold 52,100 shares of Phillips 66 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.76, for a total value of $11,657,896.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,094 shares in the company, valued at $8,747,673.44. The trade was a 57.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,800 shares of company stock worth $25,016,566. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Phillips 66 in the second quarter worth about $5,766,779,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,044,694 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,402,856,000 after buying an additional 271,841 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,093,206,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 3,667,451 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $668,137,000 after buying an additional 1,403,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,971,036 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $541,263,000 after acquiring an additional 35,167 shares during the period. 76.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 NYSE: PSX is an energy manufacturing and logistics company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was established in 2012 following the separation of ConocoPhillips' downstream and midstream businesses.

Phillips 66 operates across midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing. Its midstream activities include gathering, processing, transporting and storing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Through its refining operations, the company converts crude oil and other feedstocks into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants and other refined petroleum products.

The company markets fuel and related products under the Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco brands, serving retail, commercial, aviation and industrial customers.

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