Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.7391.

Several brokerages have issued reports on OXY. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of OXY stock opened at $53.64 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $38.80 and a 1 year high of $67.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $57.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 0.14.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 26.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,900,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,696,716,000 after purchasing an additional 699,137 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,539,743 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,635,263,000 after purchasing an additional 828,848 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,846,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $771,949,000 after purchasing an additional 167,518 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,602,660 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $436,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $276,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,948 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.