Does ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Deserve A Spot On Your Watchlist?

The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP). Even if this company is fairly valued by the market, investors would agree that generating consistent profits will continue to provide ConocoPhillips with the means to add long-term value to shareholders.

See our latest analysis for ConocoPhillips

How Fast Is ConocoPhillips Growing?

If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS) outcomes. That makes EPS growth an attractive quality for any company. It certainly is nice to see that ConocoPhillips has managed to grow EPS by 18% per year over three years. If the company can sustain that sort of growth, we'd expect shareholders to come away satisfied.

One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. ConocoPhillips shareholders can take confidence from the fact that EBIT margins are up from 9.6% to 33%, and revenue is growing. That's great to see, on both counts.

In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings and revenue, over time. For finer detail, click on the image.

The trick, as an investor, is to find companies that are going to perform well in the future, not just in the past. While crystal balls don't exist, you can check our visualization of consensus analyst forecasts for ConocoPhillips' future EPS 100% free.

Are ConocoPhillips Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Since ConocoPhillips has a market capitalisation of US$114b, we wouldn't expect insiders to hold a large percentage of shares. But we do take comfort from the fact that they are investors in the company. Indeed, they have a considerable amount of wealth invested in it, currently valued at US$108m. We note that this amounts to 0.09% of the company, which may be small owing to the sheer size of ConocoPhillips but it's still worth mentioning. This still shows shareholders there is a degree of alignment between management and themselves.

Is ConocoPhillips Worth Keeping An Eye On?

You can't deny that ConocoPhillips has grown its earnings per share at a very impressive rate. That's attractive. Further, the high level of insider ownership is impressive and suggests that the management appreciates the EPS growth and has faith in ConocoPhillips' continuing strength. The growth and insider confidence is looked upon well and so it's worthwhile to investigate further with a view to discern the stock's true value. However, before you get too excited we've discovered 3 warning signs for ConocoPhillips (1 is a bit concerning!) that you should be aware of.

The beauty of investing is that you can invest in almost any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.