LOW RISK: HIGH RETURNS?

ConocoPhillips is an American energy exploration and production company which has its headquarters located in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2002 and had 16,900 employees as of 2012. ConocoPhillips common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker COP.

ConocoPhillips has recently devised a systematic growth plan which is centered on its core competence. It has planned to capitalize on its strength which is its liquid assets and has started a planned divesture of resources from its non-core, high risk assets. It has announced that it was increasing its Eagle Ford resource base nearly 40%, from 1.8 billion to 2.5 billion barrels of oil in place. A changeover in the firm’s concentration to higher margin liquids will prove to be highly beneficial for the company. This is because liquids still provide nearly double the return as compared to other assets. Therefore, the firm will be able to boost its revenues by focusing on an area of low risk.

As a result of its focused strategy, ConocoPhillips’ focus is now on delivering strong results, with a target of double-digit EPS growth along with low-digit production growth in 2014. The firm’s stock charts has since shown an upward trend coupled with an increase in stock price as well. Currently the stock price of ConocoPhillips is $77.64. It was $51.4 in mid-2012. The dividend per share of the company is also steadily improving which is likely to satisfy shareholders.