Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 0.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $81.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $67.09 and last traded at $66.94. 2,096,622 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 8,719,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.63.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $59.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.25.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 22.51%.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.