Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.4783.

OXY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. 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 report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, CEO Richard A. Jackson bought 4,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Ballast Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.87. 6,607,526 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,225,030. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.15. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $38.80 and a 1-year high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 19.98%.The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.20%.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.