Why Phillips 66 Partners LP Might Pull Back

While Fools should generally take the opinion of Wall Street with a grain of salt, it's not a bad idea to take a look at particularly stock-shaking analyst upgrades and downgrades -- just in case their reasoning behind the call makes sense.

What: Shares of Phillips 66 Partners sank 4% on Wednesday after Credit Suisse downgraded the petroleum refiner from outperform to neutral.

So what: Along with the downgrade, analyst John Edwards planted a higher price target of $47 on the stock, representing just 2% worth of upside to yesterday's close. While momentum traders might be attracted to the stock's sharp surge in recent months, Edwards thinks that much Phillips' growth prospects are already baked into the valuation.

Now what: According to Credit Suisse, Phillips' risk/reward trade-off is pretty balanced at this point. "PSXP has delivered total returns of ~25% in the first two months of 2014, far ahead of the sector average and leading the pack for midstream MLPs," noted Edwards. "While we remain entirely confident in PSXP's growth story, de-risked cash flow and 22% 3-year distribution CAGR, we believe the current stock price fairly reflects its growth potential." With Phillips sporting a pricey forward P/E of 25 and a sector-lagging yield below 2%, it's tough to disagree with Credit Suisse's cautious stance.

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The article Why Phillips 66 Partners LP Might Pull Back originally appeared on Fool.com.

Brian Pacampara has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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