Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s share price traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday 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 $67.10 and last traded at $67.09. 1,284,123 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 8,676,997 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on OXY. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.94.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,586,612 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 24.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,021,929 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334,651 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,995,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $357,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,052 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,665,494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $302,697,000 after purchasing an additional 125,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,699,722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $220,910,000 after purchasing an additional 82,360 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $59.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.51%.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.