Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Jumps 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price was up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $218.09 and last traded at $216.6360. Approximately 9,034,002 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 10,241,628 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.28.

Key Chevron News

Investors following CVX have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Coverage also points to record U.S. refinery throughput, strong cash flow and rising earnings estimates as supportive factors for Chevron’s investment case. Read article
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron plans to restart its Ralston, Iowa, biodiesel facility with feedstock supplied by Landus Cooperative, adding activity to its lower-carbon fuels business. Read article
• Negative Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein cut its price target to $233 from $248 and maintained a “market perform” rating, signaling more restrained expectations despite implied upside from the cited share price. Read article

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Chevron from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Chevron from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Argus raised their price target on shares of Chevron from $206.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Chevron from $208.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, HSBC set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research report on Friday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.81.

Chevron Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $425.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $215.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.08.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.87 by $0.41. Chevron had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 11.56%. The company had revenue of $65.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Chevron Corporation will post 18.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.08%.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In related news, Vice Chairman Mark A. Nelson sold 112,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.48, for a total value of $23,573,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,451,460.56. This trade represents a 90.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R. Pate sold 40,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.65, for a total transaction of $9,224,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,992,480.15. This trade represents a 82.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 491,470 shares of company stock worth $100,790,175. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 44,451 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,077,000 after purchasing an additional 5,253 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Chevron by 2.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 128,817 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,309,000 after purchasing an additional 3,337 shares during the last quarter. CacheTech Inc. increased its holdings in Chevron by 26.7% in the third quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 4,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. DiPaolo Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Chevron in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Chevron by 16.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,586,444 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $936,598,000 after buying an additional 653,901 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil and gas exploration and production, while its downstream business includes refining crude oil, marketing fuels and manufacturing and distributing lubricants, petrochemicals and fuel additives. The company also invests in lower-carbon businesses and technologies, including renewable fuels, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and other opportunities intended to reduce emissions from its operations and energy products.