Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Cut to “Sector Perform” at Scotiabank

Scotiabank lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $40.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on OXY. Mizuho dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.71.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $37.68 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $69.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 264,178,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,053,055,000 after buying an additional 8,896,890 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,365,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434,098 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $701,816,000 after purchasing an additional 398,467 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,065,061 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $349,085,000 after purchasing an additional 491,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,357,689 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $314,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.