DJIA: 19,762.60

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1 ARGUS Independent Equity Research Since 1934 MARKET UPDATE DJIA: 19, DJIA: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2017 Good Afternoon. This is the Market Update for Wednesday, April 5, 2017 with analysis of the financial markets and comments on Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and ConocoPhillips. IN THIS ISSUE: Growth Stock: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.: ES spin-merger complete; guidance lowered (Jim Kelleher) Value Stock: ConocoPhillips: Canadian asset sale announced; reaffirming $65 target (Bill Selesky) DAILY INSIGHT CARNIVAL CORP. (NYSE: CCL)... BUY Carnival Corp. is the dominant cruise company in an industry characterized by few direct competitors, high barriers to entry, and favorable demographics. Given the company s strong free cash flow, we expect management to continue to raise the dividend and accelerate stock buybacks. Over the long term, we remain bullish on Carnival, based on its leading position in the industry and our expectations for increased demand for cruises among affluent baby boomers. Our target price of $67 implies a multiple of 17.2-times our FY17 earnings estimate and a potential total return, including the dividend, of 14% from current levels. MARKET REVIEW: U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday morning following strong employment data. Payroll processor ADP reported that U.S. companies added 263,000 jobs in March, well above the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 185,000 and up from a revised 245,000 in February. On the earnings front, Monsanto shares rose strongly after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal 2Q earnings and raised its full-year outlook. The Dow rose 0.8%, the S&P 0.6%, and the Nasdaq 0.5%. Crude oil rose to about $51 per barrel, while gold traded near $1249 per ounce. A R G U S R E S E A R C H C O M P A N Y 6 1 B R O A D W - A 1 Y - N E W Y O R K, N. Y ( ) LONDON SALES & MARKETING OFFICE TEL / FAX

2 HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE CO. (NYSE: HPE, $17.98)... HOLD HPE: ES spin-merger complete; guidance lowered Hewlett Packard Enterprise has completed the spinoff and merger of its enterprise services business with the former Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC). Early in March, HPE announced a $1 billion-plus deal to acquire Nimble Storage, which makes all-flash and hybrid arrays. HPE finds itself playing catch-up in rapidly evolving markets such as cloud infrastructure and all-flash storage. The market has reacted negatively to HPE s prospects, sending the stock down over 20% year-to-date at a time when technology is up over 10% as the best performing sector. We are not looking to upgrade HPE purely on value, and would need to see signs that the reconfigured company is firmly back in growth mode before becoming more positive on the shares. ANALYSIS INVESTMENT THESIS HOLD-rated Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE) has completed the spinoff and merger of its enterprise services business with the former Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC). The spin-merger resulted in the creation of DXC Technology, a global IT services company with $24-$26 billion in annual revenues (though low margins). As of the merger date, legacy CSC shareholders owned 49.9% of DXC; and legacy HPE shareholders owned 50.1%. Argus does not intend to initiate coverage of DXC Technology at this time. According to the company, the spin-merger will better enable Hewlett-Packard Enterprise to pursue core missions and unlock a stronger, more focused HPE. The three key pillars of the new strategy are making hybrid IT simple through secure, software-defined offerings; redefining IT beyond the data center, including intelligent edge for campus, branch and IoT applications; and provide flexible models to help customers transform IT environments, including migrating from on-premises. The deal unlocked what HPE called $13.5 billion in value, although little of that is cash directly back to HPE. Early in March the company announced plans to acquire Nimble Storage for more than $1 billion, in a deal designed to accelerate HPE s presence in all-flash arrays. The purchase may also be tacit admission that the $3 billion 3Par deal (from 2010) never delivered HPE the market share that it had hoped to gain. HPE finds itself playing catch-up in rapidly evolving markets such as cloud infrastructure and all-flash storage. In addition to the spin-merger that led to creation of DXC, HPE is planning to sell off noncore software assets (the old Autonomy business, which is based in UK) to England s Micro Focus. HPE will become a smaller company once both deals are done. HPE has issued new guidance that underscores the challenges facing any legacy hardware players in the rapidly evolving technology space. Recent fiscal 1Q17 results were disappointing, and also represented a third consecutive quarter in which revenue lagged the consensus forecast. HPE s top-line challenges appear likely to persist or perhaps intensify. Former HPE investors appear to be moving on to the other big play in cloud data center (IBM) or moving to the sidelines. While awaiting signs that HPE can post at least top-line stability if not growth, we regard a HOLD posture as appropriate. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS HPE is down 23% in 2017, compared with an 8% gain for the Argus Information processing & storage peer group (revised this year to include remaining storage companies following intense consolidation in that space). HPE shares increased 52% in 2016, compared with a 12% gain for the peer group of computing, enterprise services and information processing companies. The predecessor company, HP Inc., retains the corporate identity and trading history of the old Hewlett-Packard Inc. For Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, stock performance data from prior years are not meaningful

3 We downgraded the HPE shares at $22.31 in February 2017, and they now trade at $ We do not yet see a value trigger in the share price, and are unlikely to get back to a BUY rating on value alone. HPE is playing catchup in a rapidly transitioning technology space, although we do think the two major transactions the company is undertaking make tactical sense. On 4/3/17, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise announced that it had completed the previously announced separation of its enterprise service business and merged it with Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC). The resulting company, DXC Technology, is enterprise IT services company serving over 6,000 enterprise customers in 70 nations. Predecessor CSC saw its revenue decline to $7 billion in FY17 from $9 billion in FY15. Including the contribution from HPE, where ES was roughly a $17 billion business, the combined company will have revenue in the $24-$26 billion range. It will also operate at mid-single-digit operating margins. HPE is not fully out of the services business; the technology services business within HPE s Enterprise Group (EG) is an $8 billion annual revenue business. This unit, rebranded as Pointnext, has more than 25,000 employees in 80 nations supporting customers with Advisory & Transformation, professional, and operational services. Unlike the IT outsourcing and BPO business within the divested ES, Pointnext services are principally in support of EG customers adopting to the radically changed technology landscape. HPE announced that the transaction brings $13.5 billion in equity value to HPE holders on an after-tax basis. However, the company may be guilty of double-counting, as HPE investors already owned the ES business that is now part of DXC. The $13.5 billion in value includes an equity stake in DXC for HPE holders, a cash dividend payment to HPE, and DXC s assumption of debt. As of the merger date, legacy CSC shareholders owned 49.9% of DXC; and legacy HPE shareholders owned 50.1%. HPE holders received shares of DXC for every one share of HPE; that is about a 12-to-1 ratio. Total value of equity for HPE holders as of transaction date was $9.5 billion. HPE received a $3 billion special cash payment, with $1.5 billion earmarked for debt retirement. Additionally, DXC took some liabilities off HPE s books; DXC assumed $600 million of net pension liability and $400 million of existing debt. Argus does not intend to cover DXC at this time. Existing CSC holders may want to stay with the company, which could potentially enjoy scale efficiencies. However, DCX may equally face integration challenges; and we have not done sufficient due diligence, in areas such as overlapping and/or redundant competencies, to offer an investment rating on the shares. In an effort to modernize its storage offerings, HPE on 3/7/17 announced a definitive deal to acquire Nimble Storage for $1.0 billion in net cash and assumption of unvested equity awards valued at an additional $200 million. A subsidiary of HPE will pay $12.50 per NMBL share. The tender offer and closing of the transaction are expected to close in April 2017, after which Nimble will be delisted from the NYSE. HPE is paying about 2.5-to-3.0- times revenue for Nimble and at least 15-times non-gaap EBITDA, multiples we regard as reasonable. The old HP paid at least twice as much (on a P/S basis) for 3Par. The Nimble deal instantly adds $400-$500 million in annual revenue from all-flash and hybrid arrays. HPE s existing $3 billion storage business is largely built around the 3Par business, which was acquired in 2010 for $3 billion. 3Par does not fully scale out and, having been launched prior to flash arrays, may be regarded as a mature platform (although there are flash-based offerings). The Nimble product set has some attractive features, including an SaaS service called InfoSight that provides analytics on activity and data on the Nimble platform. Nimble has no disk-array history; it is purely positioned to move forward to the all-flash future. It may also be suited to the medium to small enterprise customer segment, where 3Par is underrepresented. The Nimble deal, along with the planned divestiture of non-core software assets and the spin-merger of ES into DXC Technology, will better enable Hewlett-Packard Enterprise to pursue core missions and unlock a stronger, more focused HPE. The three key pillars of the new strategy are making hybrid IT simple through secure, software

4 defined offerings; redefining IT beyond the data center, including intelligent edge for campus, branch and IoT applications; and provide flexible models to help customers transform IT environments, including migrating from onpremises. HPE is playing catch-up in a rapidly changing technology environment. As the clear legacy leader in enterprise on-premises data center, HPE has seen significant existing business and significant amounts of potential new business migrate to private, public or hybrid cloud. The challenge for HPE is that it has uneven presence in some of the fastestgrowing areas. HPE s server-driven architecture has not been fully left behind, but neither has it fully made the jump to the cloud service provider space. Legacy rival IBM has significant assets in data analytics and artificial intelligence, via its Watson technology; and Watson also has identifiable vertical-specific talents aimed at specific industries such as financial and healthcare. IBM also provides both cloud hosting (SoftLayer) and cloud foundry services. HPE does have significant server, storage and networking market share, positioning it to transition these businesses to cloud offerings; but the road ahead is treacherous. The market has reacted negatively to HPE s prospects in 2017, sending the stock down over 20% at a time when technology is up over 10% as the best performing sector. We are not looking to upgrade HPE purely on value, and would need to see signs that the reconfigured company is firmly back in growth mode before becoming more positive on the shares. EARNINGS & GROWTH ANALYSIS For all of fiscal 2016, revenue was $50.1 billion for HPE, compared with a pro forma $52.1 billion for FY15. Full-year FY16 non-gaap earnings were $1.92 per diluted share, compared with $1.20 per diluted share on a pro forma basis for FY15. While ES was inherently low-margined, it had been in an improving trajectory as low-margined business ran off. And it takes away a big slug of revenue (about $18 billion from a $50 billion revenue company). We had modeled the ES business to deliver adjusted operating margin in the 6%-7% range for As such, removing this contribution will reduce non-gaap EPS along with revenue. HPE has adjusted its outlook to reflect the removal of the ES business. Disposition of ES will impact 2Q17 adjusted EPS by $0.08 per diluted share and FY17 non-gaap results by $0.42. Fiscal 2017 non-gaap EPS is now forecast in a range of $1.46-$1.56, reduced from earlier guidance of $1.88-$1.98. ES will contribute for five months in fiscal 2017, including two months in fiscal 2Q17. We are now modeling fiscal 2017 revenue of $37.4 billion, down 25% from $50.1 billion for We also look for FY17 non-gaap EPS of $1.49 per diluted share, reduced from $1.92 per diluted share. These new estimates assume that the non-core software asset divestiture will occur early in fiscal For FY18, with ES gone for the full year and non-core software also absent for most of the year, we are modeling revenue in the $30-$32 billion range. We are reducing our FY18 non-gaap EPS forecast to $1.44 per diluted share, from a prior $2.00. Excluding the effects of divested assets, our long-term EPS growth rate forecast for Hewlett Packard Enterprise is 9%. FINANCIAL STRENGTH & DIVIDEND Our financial strength ranking on Hewlett Packard Enterprise is Medium. The H3C (Tsinghua) transaction added approximately $2 billion to cash, which was partly used for stock buybacks. The sale of ES did not generate any cash for HPE; the software deal will add $2.5 billion in cash. The following discussion reflects values as of January 2017 and does not reflect balance sheet adjustments related to the ES spin-merger. Cash & investments totaled $9.9 billion at 1Q17. Cash & investments were $13.0 billion at the end of fiscal 2016 for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and $9.84 billion at the end of fiscal 2015 (on a pro forma basis). For the predecessor company, cash & investments totaled $15.1 billion at the end of FY14, $12.16 billion at the end of FY13 and $11.6 billion at the end of FY

5 Total debt was $15.8 billion at 1Q17. Total debt was $16.1 billion at the end of fiscal 2016 for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and $15.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2015 (on a pro forma basis). For the predecessor company, total debt was $19.5 billion at the end of FY14, $22.6 billion at the end of FY13, and $28.4 billion at the end of FY12. Net debt was $5.9 billion at 1Q17. Net debt was $3.1 billion at the end of fiscal 2016 for Hewlett Packard Enterprise and $5.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2015 (on a pro forma basis). Net cash excluding HP Financial Services was $3.1 billion at the end of 1Q16 and $4.4 billion at the end of fiscal For the predecessor company, net cash excluding HP Financial Services was $5.9 billion at the end of FY14 and $103 million at the end of FY13. Cash use from operations spiked to $1.5 billion in 1Q17 from cash use of $75 million a year earlier, primarily reflecting ES pension funding and partly reflecting spin-merger and related costs. Cash flow from operations was $5.0 billion for fiscal 2016, compared with a pro forma $3.9 billion for FY15. For the predecessor company, cash flow from operations was $12.3 billion in FY14, $11.6 billion in FY13, $10.6 billion in FY12, $12.6 billion in FY11, and $11.9 billion in FY10. HPE did not repurchase stock during 4Q16. During 3Q16, HPE repurchased 67 million shares for $1.45 billion. HPE refrained from repurchasing stock in 2Q16 given the pending CSC announcement. HPE has committed to using $2 billion in H3C proceeds to repurchase stock. In November 2016, HPE hiked its quarterly dividend by 18% to $0.065 per common share. The current yield is about 1.1%. We expect the company to pay dividends of $0.26 per share in both FY17 and FY18. MANAGEMENT & RISKS Meg Whitman was named CEO of Hewlett Packard Co. in 2011 and became chairman in She has now become CEO at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, assisted by CFO Tim Stonesifer and COO Chris Hsu. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has lost the steady cash flow from PC & printing operations and is becoming structurally smaller with the ES-CSC and the software deals; but it will also maintain equity stakes within those businesses. We believe that HPE is positioned to use its comprehensive service offerings to maintain market share and eventually grow in a tough market environment. In a positive development, on 1/19/15, the UK Serious Fraud Office dropped its investigation of the HP- Autonomy combination, removing a significant cloud. An ongoing risk for H-P is that the Autonomy accounting mess will trigger investor lawsuits, erode confidence in management, and distract the company from operational transformation at a crucial time. The decision to drop this investigation is a significant positive for H-P s ability to counter lawsuits. COMPANY DESCRIPTION Hewlett Packard Enterprise was spun out of Hewlett Packard Inc. (now known as HP Inc.) in November Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a leading provider of IT products and services for enterprises. The company provides core IT gear including industry standard servers and business critical servers; storage equipment; networking gear; and technology services related to installing and maintaining this equipment. In April 2017, HPE completed the spinoff of its IT outsourcing, BPO, and applications services unit. In August 2016, HPE announced plans to spin off its software business. The company will retain stakes in both units. INDUSTRY We have raised our rating on the Technology sector to Over-Weight from Market-Weight. Technology is showing clear investor momentum, topping the market in the year-to-date and trailing one-month and three-month periods. At the same time, the average two-year-forward EPS growth rate exceeds our broad-market estimate and sector averages. This has kept technology sector valuations from becoming too rich, and resulted in PEG ratios that are below the median for all sectors. Over the long term, we expect the Tech sector to benefit from pervasive digitization across the economy, greater acceptance of transformative technologies, and the development of the Internet of Things (IoT). Healthy company and sector fundamentals are also positive. For individual companies, these include high cash levels, low debt, and broad international business exposure

6 In terms of performance, the sector rose 12.0% in 2016, above the market average, after rising 4.3% in The sector is outperforming thus far in 2017, with a gain of about 12.0%. Fundamentals for the Technology sector look reasonably balanced. By our calculations, the P/E ratio on projected 2017 earnings is 17.9, near the market multiple of Earnings are expected to grow 29.8% in 2017 following low single-digit growth in The sector s debt ratios are below the market average, as is the average dividend yield. VALUATION HPE trades at 12.1-times our revised FY17 EPS estimate and at 12.5-times our forecast for FY18, above the average multiple of 7.5 over the past five years (FY12-FY16), which includes one year for HPE and four years for the predecessor company. Our comparable valuation range for HPE is now in the low-teens, descending from the high teens. Our discounted free cash flow model points to a value in the low $30s, in a declining trend. Our blending valuation is in the teens, which is down from the mid-$20s. Our blended valuation of $18 is in a clear declining trend. Declines in calculated fair value in our experience are consistent with additional pressure on the shares. Earnings are already being impacted by the worsening top-line environment. Rather than seek to identify a potential (lower) upgrade price, we believe the company must demonstrate at least top-line stability if not growth before we again recommend the stock. At this time, we regard a HOLD posture on HPE as appropriate. On April 5 at midday, HOLD-rated HPE traded at $17.98, up $0.08. (Jim Kelleher, CFA, 4/5/17) - 6 -

7 CONOCOPHILLIPS (NYSE: COP, $49.56)... BUY COP: Canadian asset sale announced; reaffirming $65 target On March 29, ConocoPhillips announced that it would sell its 50% interest in the Foster Creek Christina Lake oil sands project to JV partner Cenovus Energy. It will also sell most of its western Canada Deep Basin gas assets to Cenovus. The deal will enable Conoco to shed low-growth, low-margin assets, and increase its exposure to highermargin crude oil. Under the terms of the transaction, Conoco will receive $13.3 billion, consisting of $10.6 billion in cash and 208 million Cenovus shares, valued at $2.7 billion on March 28, The transaction is expected to close in 2Q17. Conoco will use the cash portion of the proceeds to reduce debt (to about $20 billion from a current $29 billion) and increase share buybacks. ANALYSIS INVESTMENT THESIS We are reiterating our BUY rating on ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) with a price target of $65. The company s attention to operating efficiency has allowed it to reduce capital spending while increasing output and lowering operating costs. We believe that this strategy will enable Conoco to generate significant shareholder value in a range of commodity price environments. Conoco is the third-largest U.S. oil company by market capitalization, and we believe that it has successfully differentiated itself from other large-cap peers: it is the largest independent pure-play E&P energy company in the world; it is increasingly levered to high-margin liquids production; and it has most of its proven reserves in low-risk, OECD countries. We also expect Conoco to benefit from recently announced asset sales, and to swing to full-year profitability in 2017 following losses in 2015 and RECENT DEVELOPMENTS COP shares have outperformed since the beginning of 2017, falling 0.8% while the S&P 500 Energy index has dropped 6.8%. The shares have risen 27.4% over the past year, while the index has risen 14.8%. On March 29, Conoco announced that it would sell its 50% interest in the Foster Creek Christina Lake oil sands project to JV partner Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE), a Canadian oil company. It will also sell most of its western Canada Deep Basin gas assets to Cenovus. The transaction will enable Conoco to shed low-growth, low-margin assets, and increase its exposure to higher-margin crude oil. Under the terms of the transaction, Conoco will receive $13.3 billion, consisting of $10.6 billion in cash and 208 million Cenovus shares, valued at $2.7 billion on March 28, The transaction is expected to close in 2Q17. ConocoPhillips will use the cash portion of the proceeds to reduce debt (to about $20 billion from a current $29 billion) and increase share buybacks. The COP board has approved an increase in the existing share repurchase authorization to $6 billion, double the previous $3 billion authorization. The company also intends to triple its planned 2017 buybacks from $1 billion to $3 billion; the remaining $3 billion will be repurchased in 2018 and On February 2, Conoco reported a 4Q16 adjusted net loss of $318 million or $0.26 per share, compared to an adjusted net loss of $1.1 billion or $0.90 per share in 4Q15. The loss was narrower than our loss estimate of $0.33 per share and the consensus loss estimate of $0.39. The narrower loss was primarily attributable to higher realized prices for crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). In addition, COP benefited from lower exploration expenses. The company s average realized price was $47.05 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) in 4Q, up 17% from the prior year

8 Fourth-quarter production from continuing operations, excluding Libya, totaled 1,587 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (mboe/d), down 1% from the prior year, adjusted for dispositions. The decrease was the result of normal field declines and dispositions. Total revenue fell 7% to $7.254 billion. EARNINGS & GROWTH ANALYSIS For 2017, ConocoPhillips expects production of mboe/d. This implies flat to 2% higher production relative to 2016, excluding Libya. The company also expects shale production in the Lower 48 segment to decline in 1H17 before turning up meaningfully in the second half of the year. The company projects 2017 capital expenditures of $5.0 billion, compared to $4.9 billion in We are maintaining our 2017 and 2018 EPS estimates of $0.70 and $1.62, respectively. Our earnings estimates have not been adjusted for the asset sale announced on March 29, which is expected to close in 2Q17. The consensus EPS estimates are $0.72 for 2017 and $1.82 for FINANCIAL STRENGTH & DIVIDEND We rate COP s financial strength as Medium-High, the second-highest rating on our five-point scale. The company s debt is rated A-/stable by Standard & Poor s, up from A-/negative following the March 29 asset sale announcement. Moody s has also raised its rating to Baa2/positive from Baa2/negative and Fitch has raised its rating to A-/stable from A-/negative, reflecting the company s plans to pay down debt. At the end of 4Q16, COP s total debt/capitalization ratio was 44.5%, up from 38.3% a year earlier. The total debt/cap ratio was in line with the peer average. Total debt rose to $ billion at the end of 4Q16 from $ billion at the end of 4Q15. In early 2016, COP raised $4.6 billion through a debt offering. The company also has a $6.750 billion revolving credit facility that expires in July The company had cash and cash equivalents of $4.0 billion at the end of 4Q16, up from $2.4 billion at the end of 4Q15. Cash from operating activities was $1.443 billion in 4Q16, compared to $1.596 billion in 4Q15. On January 31, 2017, the company announced a 6% increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.265 from $0.25 per share, or $1.06 annually. The first payment at the new rate was made on March 1, The current yield is about 2.1%. Our dividend estimates are $1.06 for 2017 and $1.14 for MANAGEMENT & RISKS Ryan Lance became chairman and CEO in May 2012 after serving as SVP Exploration and Production- International since May The CFO is Jeff Sheets, who has been with the company since Investors in COP shares are exposed to numerous risks, including trends in the volatile oil and natural gas markets, in interest rates, and in global economic growth. The nature of its business exposes ConocoPhillips to a myriad of lawsuits. The company operates in some countries with a history of official corruption and in others that are prone to political upheavals. At the same time, its broad geographic presence reduces the impact of risk in any single country. Some 83% of COP s proved reserves are in OECD countries, while a relatively small 17% are in non-oecd markets. In our view, this may make it easier for the company to take on additional risks in developing markets. COMPANY DESCRIPTION ConocoPhillips is the world s largest independent E&P company based on production and proved reserves. Based in Houston, Conoco has operations in 21 countries and approximately 15,900 employees. INDUSTRY Our rating on the Energy sector is Market-Weight. While oil prices are moving higher, the Energy sector is not yet rebounding in terms of capital investment or the replacement of lost production. But we believe those are the next steps in the recovery process. The sector accounts for 7.6% of the S&P 500. Over the past five years, the weighting has ranged from 5% to 14%. We think that investors should consider allocating 6%-8% of their diversified portfolios to the Energy group. The sector includes the major integrated firms, as well as exploration & production, refining, and oilfield & drilling services companies

9 By our calculations, the projected P/E ratio on 2017 earnings is 33.3, well above the market multiple of 17.2 given the challenging sector earnings outlook. We forecast that West Texas Intermediate crude will average $56 per barrel in 2017, up from $43 in 2016 but well below the average price of $93 set in We also expect oil prices to remain volatile and look for a full-year price range of $43-$66. Our 2017 forecast for the wellhead price of Henry Hub natural gas is $2.50-$3.60 per MMbtu. VALUATION COP shares are trading in the upper half of their 52-week range of $38.80-$ They are trading at times our 2017 EPS estimate and 30.5-times our 2018 estimate, reflecting their strong gains over the last year and our relatively low earnings forecasts. However, the stock trades below peer average multiples for price/book, price/sales, price/cash flow and price/ebitda. Our discounted cash flow model yields a fair value of $65 per share, which remains our target price. On April 5 at midday, BUY-rated COP traded at $49.56, down $0.17. (Bill Selesky, 4/5/17) Argus Research Co. (ARC) is an independent investment research provider whose parent company, Argus Investors Counsel, Inc. (AIC), is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Argus Investors Counsel is a subsidiary of The Argus Research Group, Inc. Neither The Argus Research Group nor any affiliate is a member of the FINRA or the SIPC. Argus Research is not a registered broker dealer and does not have investment banking operations. The Argus trademark, service mark and logo are the intellectual property of The Argus Research Group, Inc. The information contained in this research report is produced and copyrighted by Argus Research Co., and any unauthorized use, duplication, redistribution or disclosure is prohibited by law and can result in prosecution. The content of this report may be derived from Argus research reports, notes, or analyses. The opinions and information contained herein have been obtained or derived from sources believed to be reliable, but Argus makes no representation as to their timeliness, accuracy or completeness or for their fitness for any particular purpose. This report is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. The information and material presented in this report are for general information only and do not specifically address individual investment objectives, financial situations or the particular needs of any specific person who may receive this report. Investing in any security or investment strategies discussed may not be suitable for you and it is recommended that you consult an independent investment advisor. Nothing in this report constitutes individual investment, legal or tax advice. Argus may issue or may have issued other reports that are inconsistent with or may reach different conclusions than those represented in this report, and all opinions are reflective of judgments made on the original date of publication. Argus is under no obligation to ensure that other reports are brought to the attention of any recipient of this report. Argus shall accept no liability for any loss arising from the use of this report, nor shall Argus treat all recipients of this report as customers simply by virtue of their receipt of this material. Investments involve risk and an investor may incur either profits or losses. Past performance should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of future performance. Argus has provided independent research since Argus officers, employees, agents and/or affiliates may have positions in stocks discussed in this report. No Argus officers, employees, agents and/or affiliates may serve as officers or directors of covered companies, or may own more than one percent of a covered company s stock. Argus Investors Counsel (AIC), a portfolio management business based in Stamford, Connecticut, is a customer of Argus Research Co. (ARC), based in New York. Argus Investors Counsel pays Argus Research Co. for research used in the management of the AIC core equity strategy and model portfolio and UIT products, and has the same access to Argus Research Co. reports as other customers. However, clients and prospective clients should note that Argus Investors Counsel and Argus Research Co., as units of The Argus Research Group, have certain employees in common, including those with both research and portfolio management responsibilities, and that Argus Research Co. employees participate in the management and marketing of the AIC core equity strategy and UIT and model portfolio products