Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target Lowered to $48.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its price target reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on OXY. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $44.00 price target (down from $51.00) on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Monday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Roth Capital increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.48.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock traded down $1.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $43.18. 14,129,595 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,249,895. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.38. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $34.78 and a fifty-two week high of $52.78. The stock has a market cap of $42.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75 and a beta of 0.38.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Klesse bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.98 per share, for a total transaction of $194,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 218,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,533,228.74. This represents a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. City Holding Co. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $35,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1,193.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 854 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.