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ConocoPhillips (COP) Ascends While Market Falls: Some Facts to Note

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ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $94.54, demonstrating a +2.39% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.13%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.27%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.07%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the energy company had lost 1.78% lagged the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 2.71% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.71%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of ConocoPhillips in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.45, showcasing a 18.54% downward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $15.01 billion, up 10.36% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.39 per share and revenue of $61.26 billion, which would represent changes of -17.97% and +7.56%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for ConocoPhillips. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.02% lower. As of now, ConocoPhillips holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that ConocoPhillips has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.46 right now. This denotes a discount relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 16.15.

Also, we should mention that COP has a PEG ratio of 2.43. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.38 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 203, placing it within the bottom 18% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow COP in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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