Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Chevron (NYSE:CVX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CVX. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Chevron from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $216.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.48.

Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of CVX stock opened at $194.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.55 and a 200-day moving average of $186.14. The company has a market cap of $384.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Chevron has a 52 week low of $146.49 and a 52 week high of $214.71.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $6.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $67.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.72 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 11.09%. Chevron’s quarterly revenue was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chevron will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.26%.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other news, Director John B. Hess sold 710,665 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $137,940,076.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 363,711 shares in the company, valued at $70,596,305.10. This trade represents a 66.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 5,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.00, for a total transaction of $1,037,289.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 26,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,919,596. The trade was a 17.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,196,212 shares of company stock valued at $231,819,366 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CVX. NWK Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chevron in the second quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Chevron during the second quarter worth $149,000. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Chevron in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,090,000. Northcape Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Chevron in the 2nd quarter valued at $826,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in Chevron during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,345,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Chevron

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Renewed uncertainty around shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has pushed Brent crude back toward $89 per barrel. Higher oil prices typically benefit Chevron’s upstream business by increasing realized prices and operating cash flow. Chevron Stock Jumps 3.3% as Hormuz Doubts Lift Oil
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron’s second-quarter performance exceeded expectations, with earnings of $6.06 per share versus a $5.55 consensus estimate and revenue of $67.2 billion versus $62.72 billion expected. Record production, strong cash generation and operational execution are reinforcing investor confidence. CVX’s Q2 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Hess acquisition synergies are reportedly ahead of schedule, supporting production growth through 2030, additional free cash flow and greater per-share accretion. Management has also reached its $3 billion annualized structural cost-reduction target six months early. Can Chevron’s Hess Synergies Extend Growth and Lift Cash Flow Further?
• Neutral Sentiment: Geopolitical tensions and possible changes to the Jones Act are keeping fuel-market conditions and crude prices volatile. This may support upstream profits but could also increase political pressure over gasoline prices. Why Trump’s Waiver of the Jones Act Is Unlikely To Lower Gas Prices
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts caution that commodity-price reversals, planned maintenance and execution risks could limit the rally despite Chevron’s strong results. Recent insider selling also presents a modest sentiment headwind. Chevron Stock Price Down After Insider Selling

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevron’s core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide.

Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco.