Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• 52-week high: Occidental hit a new 52-week high of $60.42 mid-day and is trading above the average analyst price target of $54.05, with a market cap of $59.26 billion and 50/200-day SMAs at $48.52/$44.84.
• Analyst action: Wells Fargo upgraded OXY to an "overweight" and raised its target to $69, though the consensus remains a "Hold" (9 Buy, 12 Hold, 3 Sell).
• Fundamentals & payout: The company beat quarterly EPS expectations ($0.31 vs. $0.18) despite a 5.2% YoY revenue decline, and it raised the quarterly dividend to $0.26 (annualized $1.04, ~1.7% yield; DPR 64.6%).

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $60.42 and last traded at $60.4340, with a volume of 6673833 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $58.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on OXY. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Occidental Petroleum from an "underweight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.05.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $48.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.84. The stock has a market cap of $59.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.02 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The business's revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 57,079 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,817,000 after buying an additional 16,506 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth approximately $273,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the second quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 193,858 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $8,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 242,619 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,192,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares during the period. Finally, Intrust Bank NA lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 10,603 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 2,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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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