Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 1.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) rose 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $47.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $42.80 and last traded at $43.03. Approximately 2,900,078 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 11,623,489 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.42.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.38.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,054,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 57,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 90,979 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 246,029 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $12,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $42.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.54.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.02%.

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.