Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 0.5% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares were up 0.5% on Monday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $81.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $67.09 and last traded at $66.94. Approximately 2,096,622 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 8,719,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.63.

OXY has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. HSBC started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.94.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.6 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.64.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The business had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.51%.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.