Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 0.9% on Disappointing Earnings

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price was down 0.9% during trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $163.30 and last traded at $163.83. Approximately 3,409,788 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 8,400,170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.28.

The oil and gas company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.09. Chevron had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm had revenue of $48.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Chevron’s payout ratio is 57.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank raised shares of Chevron from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Chevron from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $160.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Chevron from $168.00 to $156.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total transaction of $448,252.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,184.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Chevron by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,911 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the last quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. bought a new position in Chevron during the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Ballast Inc. grew its holdings in Chevron by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 1,983 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Chevron by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. now owns 50,018 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,434,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Chevron by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 64,932 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,949,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.73.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.