Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price was up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $81.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $67.10 and last traded at $67.09. Approximately 1,284,123 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 8,676,997 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.00.

OXY has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $59.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.21.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The firm had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.51%.

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.