Shares of Phillips 66 (PSX) hit a 52-week high of $80.29 during Wednesday’s trading session. However, the stock closed the session at $80.00, which reflects a solid return of 41.7% over the past six months. The average trading volume for the last three months aggregated 3,454,790 shares.
The strength of Phillips 66’s business model reflects its commitment to return value to shareholders along with its strong cash generation capabilities.
Phillips 66 has a good capital deployment policy through share repurchase and dividend payment. During the fourth quarter of 2013, the company returned more than $876 million to shareholders through $232 million in dividend payments and $644 million in share repurchases. It raised the dividend by 25% in the fourth quarter.
We believe that the increase in dividend and share repurchase programs will boost investor confidence in the stock, and drive shareholder value.
Phillips 66, an independent publicly traded company, was formed after the spin-off of the refining/sales business of ConocoPhillips (COP) in May 2012. The move resulted in the creation of the largest refining company in the U.S. and the biggest exploration and production player based on oil and gas reserves.
Phillips 66 is headquartered in Houston, Texas. In addition to the refining, marketing and transportation businesses, the company has emerged as an integrated downstream company with most of the Midstream and Chemicals segments, as well as power generation and certain technology operations included in the Emerging Businesses segment. Phillips 66 currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Other stocks that also offer value include Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) and Warren Resources Inc. (WRES).
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