Is ConocoPhillips (COP) A Smart Long-Term Buy?

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, published its “Large Cap Value Strategy” third quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy outperformed its Russell 1000 Value Index benchmark during the third quarter. On an absolute basis, the Strategy had gains in six of 11 sectors in which it was invested for the quarter. The strongest contributions came from the financials and consumer discretionary sectors. The industrials, materials, and health care sectors were the main detractors. You can take a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to have an idea about their best picks for 2021.

ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and discussed its stance on the firm. ConocoPhillips is a Houston, Texas-based natural gas liquids company with a $101.5 billion market capitalization. COP delivered a 6.64% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 83.96%. The stock closed at $76.97 per share on January 03, 2022

Here is what ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy has to say about ConocoPhillips  in its Q3 2021 investor letter:

“We also seized the opportunity to add to our position in energy producer ConocoPhillips at what we considered an attractive valuation. The market rewarded this move late in the quarter after ConocoPhillips announced its purchase of Permian Basin assets from Shell, making the company the second-largest oil and gas producer in the contiguous U.S. We view this as a positive strategic transaction for a well-run, ESG-cognizant oil producer. With this and prior transactions, the company continues to press its cost advantage and is well-positioned to benefit from ongoing energy demand recovery to pre-pandemic levels.”

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Based on our calculations, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was not able to clinch a spot in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. COP was in 49 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 50 funds in the previous quarter. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) delivered a 7.31% return in the past 3 months.

Earlier this year, we published an article that includes COP in the 5 Energy Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates. You can find more than 100 investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q3 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.