Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 2.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares were down 2.3% during trading on Monday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $194.00 to $185.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Chevron traded as low as $137.29 and last traded at $139.99. Approximately 5,375,634 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 7,689,106 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.28.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CVX. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.53.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In related news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total value of $1,422,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares in the company, valued at $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Chevron during the 4th quarter worth about $9,369,000. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $11,591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Chevron during the fourth quarter worth $594,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in Chevron by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 118,066 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,101,000 after buying an additional 7,557 shares during the period. Finally, Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at $729,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $157.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.21.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is 70.37%.

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.