5 Best Fuel Stocks to Buy Now

2. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71

Houston, Texas-based ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is one of the world’s leading exploration and production companies with operations and activities in 13 countries. It had proven oil and gas reserves of 6.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent, as of December 31, 2021.

In March, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) completed the sale of its Indonesia assets MedcoEnergi for $1.355 billion, as part of its strategy to focus on opportunities with low supply cost. The company has also recently expanded its global LNG portfolio through participation in Qatar Energy’s North Field East LNG project and an agreement with Sempra Infrastructure.

Apart from investing in future growth, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) has also strengthened its balance sheet through its $5 billion debt reduction target. In addition, the company recently announced a $5 billion increase in 2022 return of capital plan to $15 billion and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share and a variable dividend of $1.40 per share.

On October 19, Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne initiated coverage of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) shares with a $143 price target and a ‘Buy’ rating for the shares.

As of Q2 2022, 71 of the 895 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), holding shares worth $2.4 billion. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was the largest shareholder with ownership of 6.8 million shares valued at $607 million.