Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.62.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of OXY stock opened at $53.04 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $34.78 and a fifty-two week high of $53.33. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.93. The company has a market cap of $52.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.63%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, Director William R. Klesse bought 5,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.98 per share, for a total transaction of $194,900.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 218,913 shares in the company, valued at $8,533,228.74. The trade was a 2.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Carrera Capital Advisors increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% in the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.