Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares were up 1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $48.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $42.20 and last traded at $41.87. Approximately 3,406,602 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 11,007,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.44.

OXY has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 20.2% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,631 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.96 and its 200-day moving average is $47.25.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

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.