Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Downgraded by DZ Bank to "Sell"

DZ Bank lowered shares of Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a sell rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $130.00 price target on the oil and gas company's stock.

CVX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays cut shares of Chevron from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $171.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Chevron from $194.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $124.00 target price (down from $156.00) on shares of Chevron in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas lowered Chevron to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.25.

Chevron Stock Performance

Chevron stock traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $138.52. The company had a trading volume of 5,964,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,993,213. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $243.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.91 and a 200-day moving average of $152.05. Chevron has a 52 week low of $132.04 and a 52 week high of $168.96.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.03. Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. The firm had revenue of $47.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chevron will post 10.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Chevron's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.17%.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Chevron by 420.7% during the first quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 151 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, 10Elms LLP acquired a new stake in Chevron in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.