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Last year was a challenging one for the oil market as crude prices soared and then collapsed. That late year sell-off wiped out the gains of nearly all oil stocks. One oil producer, however, managed to buck that trend and come out ahead in 2018. That winner was U.S. oil giant ConocoPhillips ( NYSE:COP ) as its stock rose 13.6% last year, putting its total return at 15.6% after including the company’s 2%-yielding dividend. That crushed the S&P 500 ‘s total return, which was a negative 4.4% during 2018. How ConocoPhillips won in 2018 ConocoPhillips’ success last year stems from its strategy shift in late 2016. After spending the previous two years focused on reducing costs, it charted a new way forward that focused on growing shareholder value. It aimed to sell $5 billion to $8 billion of less profitable assets and use the cash to reduce debt, repurchase shares, and invest in higher-return opportunities. The company accelerated that strategy during 2017 by selling several assets in Canada to Cenovus Energy ( NYSE:CVE ) for $13.3 billion in cash and Cenovus’ stock. That deal enabled ConocoPhillips to double its share repurchase program from $3 billion to $6 billion while […]
