Shares of ConocoPhillips climbed 3.7% Monday on news the company plans to buy up to $15 billion worth of its own shares through the end of 2008. The buyback amounts to roughly 11% of Friday's market cap of $133 billion. 
Of the $15 billion, $2 billion was already announced in a February buyback announcement. The plan is to buy $2-3 billion worth of shares in both the third and fourth quarters, with another roughly $10 billion left over for additional buybacks in 2008. ConocoPhillips already trades at a significant P/E discount to its peers, with a ratio of 8.9, vs. 12.7 for Exxon and 10.9 for Chevron. Conoco also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 2%. Shares closed at $84.05, a new 52-week high, on heavy volume of 17.9 million shares.
Sources: Press Release, Wall Street Journal, TheStreet.com, Dow Jones Newswires, Reuters, MarketWatch
Commentary: ConocoPhillips Could Teach Home Depot A Lesson On Buybacks • Integrated Oil Producers: Opportunity in Eni S.p.A. and ConocoPhillips • ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips: Adios, Venezuela
Stocks/ETFs to watch: ConocoPhillips (COP). Competitors: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), BP (BP). ETFs: SPDR Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP), iShares Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration/Production (IEO)
Earnings call transcripts: ConocoPhillips Q1 2007 Earnings Call Transcript
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