Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 5.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) shares traded up 5.5% on Wednesday after Evercore upgraded the stock from an in-line rating to an outperform rating. Evercore now has a $65.00 price target on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $54.55 and last traded at $54.5390. Approximately 8,239,809 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 13,970,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.68.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Capital One Financial raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.48.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

More Occidental Petroleum News

Here are the key news stories impacting Occidental Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI double-upgraded Occidental Petroleum to Outperform from Underperform and lifted its price target to $65 from $58, saying the company should benefit from deleveraging, stronger cash flow, and improved capital efficiency. Occidental upgraded as Evercore sees deleveraging driving cash flow upside
• Positive Sentiment: Brent crude jumped on renewed Middle East supply concerns, which tends to boost Occidental’s earnings and free cash flow because the company is highly sensitive to oil prices. Why Is Occidental Petroleum Stock Surging on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Several market reports pointed to OXY as a beneficiary of both the analyst upgrade and the crude rally, reinforcing the move in the shares. Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Surges Nearly 4% on Analyst Upgrade and Crude Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage noted that Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target on Occidental, but the article did not indicate a major change in the broader bullish setup. Morgan Stanley Trims Price Target on Occidental Petroleum (OXY). Here is Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks articles said investors have recently been paying close attention to OXY and that the stock may be positioned to beat earnings estimates again, but these were more commentary than fresh catalysts. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 15.8% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 206,671 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,038,000 after buying an additional 10,799 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 326.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,702,420 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $82,687,000 after buying an additional 1,303,263 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.1% during the second quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 12,424 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.6% during the second quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 5.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.37 and a 200-day moving average of $52.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.15.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.20%.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.