China Petroleum and Chemical (NYSE: SNP)'s stock had its "underperform" rating reaffirmed by Zacks in a report released on Thursday. They currently have a $79.00 target price on the stock.

Zacks' analyst wrote, "We are maintaining our Underperform recommendation on Sinopec ahead of its first half of 2012 earnings release. Its first quarter profit registered a 35.2% decline owing to the slower 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 spiraling costs to consumers, thereby hurting refining margins. The company’s weak guidance for this year also leads us to recommend caution. 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. Other risk factors such as technological failure and geo-political disturbances also add to our negative sentiment. "

Shares of China Petroleum and Chemical traded down 0.28% during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $86.95. China Petroleum and Chemical has a one year low of $82.50 and a one year high of $125.36. The company has a market cap of $75.692 billion and a P/E ratio of 7.65.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded shares of China Petroleum and Chemical from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, July 11th. Separately, analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of China Petroleum and Chemical from a "conviction buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, June 13th. Finally, analysts at Jefferies Group upgraded shares of China Petroleum and Chemical from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, June 5th.

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).