Jul 11, 2022
One of the surest signs of inflation is the pain Americans are feeling at the pump.
According to motoring and leisure travel membership giant AAA, the average price of regular gas in the U.S. now sits at $4.752 per gallon — roughly 51% higher than the $3.137 per gallon drivers were paying a year ago.
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President Joe Biden has been calling companies running gas stations to lower their prices.
“Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now,” he said in a tweet over the long weekend.
To combat rising energy prices, the Biden administration is releasing about one million barrels a day from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves through October. The flow has depleted the reserves to their lowest level since 1986.
But according to a recent Reuters report, the U.S. sent more than five million barrels of oil from its SPR to Europe and Asia last month.
Reuters reported that Phillips 66 shipped around 470,000 barrels of crude oil from a storage site in Texas to Italy. Meanwhile, Atlantic Trading & Marketing, part of TotalEnergies, exported two cargoes of 560,000 barrels.
In fact, Wall Street sees material upside in the two companies just mentioned.
Oil stock No.1: Phillips 66 (PSX)
Phillips66 is a diversified energy company with four operating segments: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing & Specialties.
Headquartered in Houston, the company has 12 refineries in the U.S. and Europe with a global refining capacity of 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. It also markets gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel through more than 7,500 independently owned outlets in 48 states.
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Phillips66 is returning cash to investors. The board has restarted the company’s share repurchase program, which had $2.5 billion remaining under its existing authorization as of Mar. 31.
The company also announced a 5% dividend increase in May. At the current share price, Phillips66 offers an annual dividend yield of 4.7%.
Energy stocks have pulled back over the past month and Phillips66 was caught in the sell-off as well. However, the stock is still up 6% year to date – in stark contrast to the broad market’s double-digit decline.
Wells Fargo analyst Michael Blum sees more upside on the horizon. Blum has an ‘overweight’ rating on Phillips66 and recently raised his price target from $114 to $127 — roughly 58% above where the stock sits today.
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Oil stock No.2: TotalEnergies (TTE)
TotalEnergies is an integrated energy company with operations in more than 130 countries around the world. While the company is known for being one of the oil supermajors, it also produces and markets biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables, and electricity.
Business has been booming. In Q1, Total Energies generated $63.94 billion of revenue, representing a 65.5% increase year over year. Adjusted net income came in at $9.0 billion, which tripled the $3.0 billion earned in the year-ago period.
TotalEnergies is a French company and its shares are listed on Euronext Paris. However, the company’s American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) trade on the New York Stock Exchange so it’s very convenient for U.S. investors to get a piece of the action.
Analysts are optimistic about what’s in store for the company. Last month, Bernstein analyst Oswald Clint upgraded TotalEnergies from ‘market perform’ to ‘outperform.’ He has set a price target of €70 for the Paris-listed shares — implying a potential upside of 43%.
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Jing is an investment reporter for Moneywise. He is an avid advocate of investing for passive income. Despite the ups and downs he’s been through with the markets, Jing believes that you can generate a steadily increasing income stream by investing in high quality companies.
