Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Hold

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $172.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Phillips 66 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $187.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $152.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Phillips 66 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $180.72.

Phillips 66 Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE PSX opened at $160.13 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $166.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.52. Phillips 66 has a 52-week low of $95.70 and a 52-week high of $190.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.32. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 3.22%.The firm had revenue of $32.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $1.27 per share. This is a boost from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Phillips 66’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Phillips 66

In other news, EVP Don Baldridge sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $1,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,158,080. The trade was a 16.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin J. Mitchell sold 16,856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.22, for a total value of $2,835,516.32. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 97,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,380,590.72. This represents a 14.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,923 shares of company stock valued at $16,399,619. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phillips 66

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PSX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 11.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,724,558 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,035,574,000 after buying an additional 5,356,558 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the fourth quarter worth approximately $640,206,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 462.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,727,888 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $352,007,000 after buying an additional 2,243,268 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Phillips 66 by 424.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,893,195 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $257,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Phillips 66 during the second quarter worth approximately $107,967,000. 76.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an independent energy manufacturing and logistics company engaged primarily in refining, midstream transportation, marketing and chemicals. The company processes crude oil into transportation fuels, lubricants and other petroleum products, operates pipeline and storage infrastructure, and participates in petrochemical production through strategic investments. Phillips 66 serves commercial, industrial and retail customers and positions its operations across the value chain of the downstream energy sector.

The company’s principal activities include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstocks for petrochemical production; operating midstream assets such as pipelines, terminals and fractionators that move and store crude oil and natural gas liquids; and marketing and distributing fuels and lubricants through wholesale and retail channels.