5 Best Gas Stocks To Buy Now

1. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 64

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is a Texas-based company that explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas liquids worldwide. It is one of the best energy stocks to invest in. On November 3, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) declared a $0.51 per share quarterly dividend, a 10.9% increase from its prior dividend of $0.46. The dividend is payable on December 1, to shareholders of record on November 15. The company also announced a $20 billion increase in share buybacks, taking the existing share repurchase program to $45 billion. This is consistent with ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)’s plan for future share repurchases.

On November 22, Citi analyst Alastair Syme raised the price target on ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to $160 from $132 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The market rotation into energy equities has “further to run, even though names in our US coverage already sit at all-time highs,” the analyst told investors. History indicates that energy stocks usually perform well in an earnings recession, wrote the analyst.

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 64 hedge funds were bullish on ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) at the end of September 2022, compared to 71 in the prior quarter. Ric Dillon’s Diamond Hill Capital held a prominent stake in the company, with 6.3 million shares worth $646.6 million.  

ClearBridge Investments made the following comment about ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) handily outperformed the energy sector, which led the value benchmark. Its exposure to natural gas helped the stock perform more in line with natural gas E&Ps, which led the sector due to the European energy crisis and U.S. shale gas being considered a secure long-term source of liquid natural gas. In addition to COP’s low-cost resource base, conservative balance sheet and experienced management team, we appreciate its strong focus on ESG measures, which we believe is a good indicator of the quality of a company’s business model and management team.

Specifically, we appreciate solid governance practices with compensation metrics emphasizing ROCE and relative total shareholder return, the board’s effective oversight of management as well as the company’s methane flaring leadership. COP is investing in field electrification and carbon capture across its portfolio, with ambitions to deliver oil production with a CO2 intensity of sub-5 kg/BOE, which would be one of the lowest emission sources of supply in the world.”

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