ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) recently announced a hike in its quarterly dividend and plans to repurchase of stocks worth $3 billion.
The new dividend of 42 cents per share reflects an increase of 38% from the prior payout. The dividend is likely to be paid on Dec 2, to stockholders of record as of Oct 17. On an annualized basis, the company hiked its dividend by roughly $500 million.
Moreover, ConocoPhillips has announced its intention to buy back stocks worth $3 billion in 2020. Both the dividend hike and share buyback program reflect the company’s strong focus on returning cash to shareholders consistently.
Importantly, the upstream energy player has long been spending capital within cashflows, reflecting the company’s prime intention of returning shareholders’ cash rather than focusing on absolute production growth. In fact, ConocoPhillips has reaffirmed that it will continue to return more than 30% of its operating cashflow every year through both dividend payment and stock repurchases.
In other words, the slowdown in the broader energy sector, as the weaknesses in crude pricing scenario prevails, couldn’t stop the company from increasing dividend and planning stock repurchases. This commitment is getting reflected in ConocoPhillips’ stock price, which has outperformed both the industry and the sector year to date.
Currently, ConocoPhillips which is headquartered in Houston, TX, carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Meanwhile, better-ranked stocks in the energy space are Matrix Service Company (MTRX - Free Report) , Shell Midstream Partners LP and Dril-Quip Inc (DRQ - Free Report) . While Matrix Service and Shell Midstream sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Dril-Quip carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Matrix Service has managed to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the past four quarters.
Shell Midstream has posted an average positive earnings surprise of 3.8% for the past four quarters.
Dril-Quip beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average earnings surprise being 49%.
Today's Best Stocks from Zacks
Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%.
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year.
See their latest picks free >>
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) recently announced a hike in its quarterly dividend and plans to repurchase of stocks worth $3 billion.
The new dividend of 42 cents per share reflects an increase of 38% from the prior payout. The dividend is likely to be paid on Dec 2, to stockholders of record as of Oct 17. On an annualized basis, the company hiked its dividend by roughly $500 million.
Moreover, ConocoPhillips has announced its intention to buy back stocks worth $3 billion in 2020. Both the dividend hike and share buyback program reflect the company’s strong focus on returning cash to shareholders consistently.
Importantly, the upstream energy player has long been spending capital within cashflows, reflecting the company’s prime intention of returning shareholders’ cash rather than focusing on absolute production growth. In fact, ConocoPhillips has reaffirmed that it will continue to return more than 30% of its operating cashflow every year through both dividend payment and stock repurchases.
In other words, the slowdown in the broader energy sector, as the weaknesses in crude pricing scenario prevails, couldn’t stop the company from increasing dividend and planning stock repurchases. This commitment is getting reflected in ConocoPhillips’ stock price, which has outperformed both the industry and the sector year to date.
Currently, ConocoPhillips which is headquartered in Houston, TX, carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Meanwhile, better-ranked stocks in the energy space are Matrix Service Company (MTRX - Free Report) , Shell Midstream Partners LP and Dril-Quip Inc (DRQ - Free Report) . While Matrix Service and Shell Midstream sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Dril-Quip carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Matrix Service has managed to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the past four quarters.
Shell Midstream has posted an average positive earnings surprise of 3.8% for the past four quarters.
Dril-Quip beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average earnings surprise being 49%.
Today's Best Stocks from Zacks
Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%.
This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year.
See their latest picks free >>
Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.
This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
Get the latest research report on COP - FREE
Get the latest research report on DRQ - FREE
Get the latest research report on MTRX - FREE