Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading 0.9% Higher - What's Next?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $139.37 and last traded at $138.29. Approximately 1,485,206 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 7,970,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVX has been the subject of several recent research reports. DZ Bank cut Chevron from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Chevron from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Chevron to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Chevron from $194.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $161.25.

Chevron Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $148.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.14. The firm has a market cap of $244.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.83.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.03. Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company had revenue of $47.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Chevron's payout ratio is 78.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,369,000. Nicholas Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Chevron by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $11,591,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Chevron by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 179,815 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $26,044,000 after purchasing an additional 2,755 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Chevron by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,205,747 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $174,817,000 after purchasing an additional 52,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Chevron during the fourth quarter worth $594,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company's stock.

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.

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