Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

OXY has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.38.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.7%

OXY opened at $43.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.87. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $64.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.54.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.02%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.