Brokerages Set Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) PT at $52.26

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.2609.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on OXY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Melius began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, October 17th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE OXY opened at $40.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.61. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $34.78 and a 12 month high of $53.20.

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

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 262.5% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 135,541 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,690,000 after buying an additional 98,148 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 801,603 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,567,000 after acquiring an additional 32,117 shares in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,852 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,863 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 100,468 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,178,000 after purchasing an additional 4,516 shares in the last quarter. 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.