Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Research Coverage Started at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating and a $68.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore upgraded Occidental Petroleum from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.96.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE OXY opened at $61.45 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $38.80 and a twelve month high of $67.45. The company has a market capitalization of $61.42 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.16.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.57. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 28.36%.The company had revenue of $8.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 53.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 17.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard Jackson purchased 4,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OXY. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,084,356 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,589,000 after purchasing an additional 124,879 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $12,868,205,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $10,041,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 7.2% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,168,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $140,947,000 after buying an additional 145,100 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,685,169 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $109,536,000 after buying an additional 66,438 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Its operations are concentrated primarily in the United States, including the Permian and DJ basins, and it also has international activities in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.

The company operates through oil and gas, chemical and midstream and marketing businesses. Its chemical segment, OxyChem, manufactures and markets chlor-alkali products, vinyls and other basic chemicals used in water treatment, construction, industrial manufacturing and consumer products.