One Reason Why ConocoPhillips (COP) Stock Is Up Today

ConocoPhillips (COP) stock is rising on Monday afternoon as JPMorgan boosted its rating on shares to ‘neutral’ from ‘sell.’
By Kaya Yurieff ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of ConocoPhillips (COP) - Get Report are advancing 0.71% to $42.60 in early afternoon trading on Monday as JPMorgan upgraded the stock to "neutral" from "sell."

The firm has a $44 price target on shares of the Houston-based exploration and production company.

The higher rating is due to relative valuation, Barron's noted. The stock has been a relative "laggard" year-to-date as it's down 9% compared to the integrated oil companies group average of up 11%, the firm said.

"We have taken ConocoPhillips to Neutral from Underweight...despite the fact that it has no downstream exposure, where trends have degraded for several peers against the backdrop of an improved upstream outlook. We now see about 5% upside by year-end," JPMorgan wrote in a note cited by Barron's.

Additionally, JPMorgan said it sees a "sleepy quarter" ahead for integrated oil companies.

"For the integrateds, we don't see much of a change to the narrative with 2Q. The focus remains cost/capital reductions over the course of the year to achieve dividend coverage in a about $45-50/bbl environment," the firm added.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Sell" rating with a score of D+ on the stock.

The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, poor profit margins, weak operating cash flow, disappointing return on equity and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: COP

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