Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Melius

Melius assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $64.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.65.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.6%

OXY opened at $44.2450 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18 and a beta of 0.91. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $34.78 and a 12 month high of $58.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.18 and a 200 day moving average of $44.11.

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

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 56.80%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 146.1% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 75,718 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 44,956 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,055,070 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $52,131,000 after purchasing an additional 266,825 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 954,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $47,176,000 after purchasing an additional 5,487 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 53.7% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 21,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 7,567 shares during the period. Finally, Syon Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 29,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902 shares during the period. 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.