Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Research Coverage Started at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

OXY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective (down from $51.00) on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.84.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $44.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45 and a beta of 0.38. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $34.78 and a 52-week high of $52.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.36.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.16. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 70.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Klesse acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.98 per share, with a total value of $194,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 218,913 shares in the company, valued at $8,533,228.74. This trade represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. City Holding Co. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1,193.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 854 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.