Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading 0.8% Higher – Still a Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares shot up 0.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $138.54 and last traded at $136.74. 2,338,110 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 7,857,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $135.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CVX. Scotiabank cut Chevron from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $160.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Chevron from $194.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.20.

Chevron Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $155.34 and a 200-day moving average of $153.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.05%. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Chevron news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at $9,369,000. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Chevron by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 179,815 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,044,000 after buying an additional 2,755 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Chevron by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,205,747 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $174,817,000 after acquiring an additional 52,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Chevron in the 4th quarter worth $594,000. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

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.