Stifel Nicolaus Begins Coverage on Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY)

Equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating and a $68.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 11.62% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on OXY. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $75.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.96.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:OXY traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,100,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,441,789. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $38.80 and a 12 month high of $67.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.90 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.78.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.57. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 28.36%.The firm had revenue of $8.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 53.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 6.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard Jackson purchased 4,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 450,490 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $21,880,000 after buying an additional 5,558 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.6% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,368 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after buying an additional 7,273 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1,329.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 59,725 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 55,546 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 13.0% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,537 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 39.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 78,828 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,829,000 after acquiring an additional 22,183 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Its operations are concentrated primarily in the United States, including the Permian and DJ basins, and it also has international activities in regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.

The company operates through oil and gas, chemical and midstream and marketing businesses. Its chemical segment, OxyChem, manufactures and markets chlor-alkali products, vinyls and other basic chemicals used in water treatment, construction, industrial manufacturing and consumer products.