Brokerages Set Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) Target Price at $52.52

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.5217.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 5.2%

OXY stock opened at $42.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $41.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $34.78 and a 12 month high of $55.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.61.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during 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%. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.80%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,230,989 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,960,202,000 after purchasing an additional 12,107,285 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 22.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,089,878 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $756,796,000 after acquiring an additional 3,267,269 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth $99,853,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 9.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,128,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $401,162,000 after acquiring an additional 710,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 926.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 777,564 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $38,381,000 after acquiring an additional 701,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.