Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $67.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $67.05 and last traded at $66.3070, with a volume of 22928732 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.32.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.59.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Carrera Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,831,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.76 billion, a PE ratio of 41.18 and a beta of 0.34.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.14%.The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 64.60%.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.