Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $67.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $67.05 and last traded at $66.3070, with a volume of 22928732 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $65.32.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.59.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Carrera Capital Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $65.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.18 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $51.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.74.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.14%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 64.60%.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.