Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Shares Down 4.9% – Time to Sell?

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)’s share price was down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $246.57 and last traded at $246.8680. Approximately 5,084,233 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 78% from the average daily volume of 2,858,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PSX. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $264.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $345.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Phillips 66 from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $245.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.12.

Phillips 66 Stock Down 4.9%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $267.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 0.69.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported $14.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.73 by $2.35. The firm had revenue of $50.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.91 billion. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 33.12% and a net margin of 7.27%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 33.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 17th will be given a $1.33 dividend. This is an increase from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 17th. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.22%.

Phillips 66 announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, July 31st that authorizes the company to buy back $10 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 11.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Phillips 66

In other Phillips 66 news, EVP Brian Mandell sold 23,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.06, for a total transaction of $6,202,404.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard G. Harbison sold 52,100 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,747,673.44. The trade was a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 108,800 shares of company stock worth $25,016,566. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Phillips 66

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSX. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 142.5% during the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 97 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. NFSG Corp lifted its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 105.6% in the 1st quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

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.