Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 57,130,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the August 31st total of 52,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.8 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Chevron in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $196.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $203.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Chevron from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.00.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 126,093,326 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,808,081,000 after purchasing an additional 15,845,037 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Chevron by 3.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 17,111,051 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,676,957,000 after buying an additional 501,969 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Chevron by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,009,766 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,525,380,000 after acquiring an additional 495,879 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Chevron by 4.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,570,971 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,122,772,000 after acquiring an additional 629,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Chevron by 5.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,418,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,116,600,000 after acquiring an additional 743,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of CVX traded up $2.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $149.73. 9,482,900 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,060,685. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $273.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. Chevron has a 52 week low of $135.37 and a 52 week high of $170.17.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.38). Chevron had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The business had revenue of $51.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Chevron will post 11.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.98%.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.