Analysts Set Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) Target Price at $53.38

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.38.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY traded down $0.06 on Wednesday, reaching $43.87. The company had a trading volume of 4,579,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,782,302. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $64.76. The company has a market cap of $43.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.40.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $642,000. Snider Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $390,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,365,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434,098 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,236,980 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $209,349,000 after buying an additional 229,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,596,699 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $78,813,000 after buying an additional 140,528 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.