China Petroleum and Chemical Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks (SNP)

China Petroleum and Chemical (NYSE: SNP) was upgraded by Zacks from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report issued on Friday. The firm currently has a $111.00 target price on the stock.

Zacks' analyst wrote, "We are upgrading our recommendation on Sinopec to Neutral' from Underperform'. Profits in the first half of 2012 registered a decline of 41.1%, owing to sluggish domestic economic growth. Moreover, increases in the price of international crude oil amidst government caps on fuel prices, prevented the company from fully passing on the spiraling costs to consumers, thereby hurting refining margins. We believe that Sinopec's matured domestic oil fields and associated rising costs will continue to be an overhang on its operations as natural declines become pricier to counterbalance. However, we believe an increasing trend in production and sales volumes will help Sinopec to post sound results ahead. Management is now focused on developing bigger natural gas businesses, including conventional, non-conventional and LNG. "

China Petroleum and Chemical traded up 0.08% on Friday, hitting $105.39. China Petroleum and Chemical has a 52-week low of $82.51 and a 52-week high of $125.36. The company has a market cap of $91.500 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64.

A number of other firms have also recently commented on SNP. Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of China Petroleum and Chemical from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note to investors on Friday, October 5th. Analysts at Jefferies Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of China Petroleum and Chemical in a research note to investors on Monday, August 27th.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp) is a China-based energy and chemical company. The Company through its subsidiaries engages in oil and gas and chemical operations in the People's Republic of China (PRC).