Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.18.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY stock opened at $55.76 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.62. The company has a market capitalization of $49.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 1.57. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $49.75 and a twelve month high of $71.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $14,552,271,000 after buying an additional 19,586,612 shares in the last quarter. Himalaya Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $92,433,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,880,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.