Sanders Morris Harris LLC Acquires New Shares in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Key Points

• Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired 37,570 shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter, valued at approximately $2.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 88.7% of OXY’s outstanding shares.
• Occidental reported quarterly earnings of $2.40 per share, beating estimates of $1.83, while revenue rose 53.4% year over year to $8.06 billion.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.28 per share, or $1.12 annually, representing a 1.8% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $65.92.

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 37,570 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $2,086,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,868,205,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 84.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,643,916 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $516,975,000 after purchasing an additional 4,882,834 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth $172,413,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth $168,860,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 6.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,141,269 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,252,271,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870,472 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY traded down $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.42. The stock had a trading volume of 8,707,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,108,059. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.30. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $38.80 and a one year high of $67.45. The firm has a market cap of $61.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.24.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.57. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 28.36%. The firm had revenue of $8.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 53.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 6.20 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.92.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, commonly known as Oxy, is an energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations are concentrated in the United States, including the Permian and Denver-Julesburg basins, and in selected international regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.

The company also operates midstream and marketing businesses that support the gathering, processing, transportation and sale of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

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