Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Raised to “Outperform” at Mizuho

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) was upgraded by analysts at Mizuho from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $60.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock, up from their prior price target of $58.00. Mizuho’s price target points to a potential upside of 33.76% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on OXY. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Roth Capital boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.87.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $44.86 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $34.78 and a 1 year high of $56.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $45.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.79. The firm has a market cap of $44.16 billion, a PE ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.79%.The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 58,549 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 5,306 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.7% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.