ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Raises Dividend to $0.78 Per Share

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.78 per share by the energy producer on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58.

ConocoPhillips has increased its dividend by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. ConocoPhillips has a dividend payout ratio of 28.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect ConocoPhillips to earn $8.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.9%.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $107.84 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $107.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.02. The firm has a market cap of $125.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $101.29 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on COP. Barclays upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.47.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.