Piper Jaffray analyst Blake Fernandez upgraded ConocoPhillips to Overweight from Neutral with an unchanged price target of $75. The analyst attributes the stock's year-to-date underperformance to concern over major project spending risk. However, he believes this is embedded in current valuation levels. Project sanctions could put upward pressure on capital spending in an environment when investors are demanding discipline, Fernandez tells investors in a research note. That said, his modeling "conservatively contemplates" increased spending into 2020, yet still reflects "strong" free cash generation for ConocoPhillips at $60 per barrel Brent.