Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $149.02 and last traded at $148.78. 636,065 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 7,706,565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CVX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Chevron from $196.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $183.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.81.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.09.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $48.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.08 earnings per share. Chevron’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVX. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 34,455 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,435,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Lane & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the 1st quarter worth approximately $345,000. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 2.5% during the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 331,550 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $52,299,000 after purchasing an additional 8,168 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Chevron during the first quarter worth approximately $4,924,000. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 19,997 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Chevron

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.