Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 1.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Chevron shares rose 1.2% to approximately $199.99, with trading volume about 30% below the average. The stock has a market capitalization of roughly $395 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 20 Buy ratings, five Holds and one Sell; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $207.48 price target.
• Chevron reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.78 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annual yield. Insiders sold more than 1.19 million shares worth approximately $231.8 million over the past three months.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $201.63 and last traded at $199.9880. 7,700,971 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 10,927,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Chevron from $168.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Dbs Bank raised Chevron to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Chevron from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho set a $224.00 target price on Chevron in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Chevron from $204.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $207.48.

Chevron Stock Up 1.2%

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $183.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $395.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.49.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $6.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.51. Chevron had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $67.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. Chevron's revenue for the quarter was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chevron Corporation will post 15.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 19th. Chevron's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 5,547 shares of the company'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 owned 26,308 shares in the company, valued at $4,919,596. This represents a 17.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Hess sold 710,665 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $137,940,076.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 363,711 shares of the company's stock, valued at $70,596,305.10. This represents a 66.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,196,212 shares of company stock valued at $231,819,366. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Chevron in the second quarter worth $25,663,729,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Chevron in the fourth quarter valued at $3,727,586,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the second quarter valued at about $2,378,114,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Chevron by 9.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 152,605,988 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $23,698,184,000 after purchasing an additional 12,789,399 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the second quarter valued at about $1,462,412,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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