Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Chevron (NYSE:CVX) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Melius started coverage on Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $155.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down previously from $170.00) on shares of Chevron in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Chevron from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chevron has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.58.

Chevron Price Performance

CVX stock opened at $148.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.11. Chevron has a 1 year low of $132.04 and a 1 year high of $168.96. The stock has a market cap of $299.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $48.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.99 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 9.90% and a net margin of 7.02%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Chevron will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 18th. Chevron’s payout ratio is presently 96.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In other Chevron news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 3,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $636,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,181 shares in the company, valued at $188,960. This trade represents a 77.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John B. Hess sold 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.75, for a total transaction of $41,456,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,128,045 shares in the company, valued at $170,052,783.75. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Chevron by 60,300.0% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 604 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Chevron by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,396 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Chevron by 420.7% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 151 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Chevron by 85.9% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 27.8% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 104,045 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,406,000 after acquiring an additional 22,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.