Hancock Whitney Corp Boosts Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 123,820 shares of the energy producer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,607 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $12,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $12,081,491,000 after purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,847,572 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,546,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,549,078 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,287,113 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $3,101,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,027 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $2,792,521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,211,939 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna set a $136.00 price objective on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $116.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Cowen began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.89.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $89.95 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $130.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $94.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.95. The firm has a market cap of $113.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. Equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

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.

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