Top 5 Oil and Gas Stocks To Invest In According to Hedge Funds

4. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an American oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Texas. The company was ranked #77 on the Fortune 500 in 2022 after jumping 79 spots from its 2021 rankings.

On April 12, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) revealed its mega plan for shareholder returns. In the next 10 years, the company plans to spend $115 billion of its free cash flow on shareholder distributions and capital spending. The company’s average annual shareholder returns are expected to be around 5% through dividends and repurchases.

In Q4 2022, 67 hedge funds had a stake worth nearly $3 billion in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP). In the previous quarter, the company was a part of 64 hedge fund portfolios at a combined value of $2.67 billion. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)’s most prominent hedge fund holder in Q4 was Diamond Hill Capital with over 5.5 million shares worth $650.5 million.

Oakmark Fund made the following comment about ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:

“ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is one of the largest and lowest cost U.S. exploration and production companies in the country, led by CEO Ryan Lance—in our view one of the best value creators in the industry. ConocoPhillips’s share prices fell in the first quarter as oil prices receded, which is not atypical. We were buying the company at prices where it could generate its entire market cap in free cash flow over the next decade while growing the production such that at the end of that time, the base of production would be one-third higher. This sort of reinvestment opportunity is unique to ConocoPhillips and clearly not reflected in the current share price.”