Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Occidental has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 26 firms (2 sell, 15 hold, 8 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $61.83.
• The company beat EPS estimates ($0.31 vs. $0.18) but missed revenue expectations ($5.11B vs. $6.02B) and saw revenue decline 5.2% year‑over‑year; sell‑side analysts project ~4.01 EPS for the current year.
• Occidental raised its quarterly dividend to $0.26 (annualized $1.04), implying a 1.8% yield and a payout ratio of about 64.6%.

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $61.8261.

OXY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $57.27 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.07 and a 200-day moving average of $47.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $38.72 and a twelve month high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 9.89%. Occidental Petroleum's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is 64.60%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 57,079 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 16,506 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $4,584,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 696.7% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 23,997 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 20,985 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 105,767 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,443,000 after acquiring an additional 7,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 136,625 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,740,000 after acquiring an additional 26,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

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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