Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $49.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $53.33 and last traded at $53.0020, with a volume of 2556707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.84.

OXY has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Klesse bought 5,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.98 per share, for a total transaction of $194,900.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 218,913 shares in the company, valued at $8,533,228.74. The trade was a 2.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.9%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.11 billion, a PE ratio of 32.84 and a beta of 0.41.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.14%.The business’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 59.63%.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.