Encompass Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Key Points

• Encompass Capital Advisors cut its Occidental Petroleum stake by 91.9% in the first quarter, selling 5.1 million shares and retaining 451,396 shares valued at approximately $29.3 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 88.7%, although several funds increased their positions. Occidental’s shares were trading around $54.97, down 4.1%, with analysts holding a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $64.17.
• Occidental reported first-quarter EPS of $1.06, exceeding estimates of $0.60, while revenue declined 8.3% year over year to $5.11 billion. The company maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing a 1.9% yield.

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 91.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 451,396 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 5,113,804 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $29,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 39.6% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 304,114 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $19,767,000 after purchasing an additional 86,345 shares during the period. SummitTX Capital L.P. raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 17,509 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 9,021 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $353,000. Castleark Management LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 127.6% in the 1st quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 52,585 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,418,000 after buying an additional 29,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,460 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of OXY stock opened at $54.97 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.80 and a 1-year high of $67.45. The firm has a market cap of $54.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business's revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.66 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard A. Jackson bought 4,770 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on OXY. Roth Capital increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.17.

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.

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