Piper Sandler Raises Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Price Target to $204.00

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) had its target price lifted by Piper Sandler from $180.00 to $204.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Chevron from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen lowered Chevron from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Raymond James raised their target price on Chevron from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a buy rating on shares of Chevron in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Chevron from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $184.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $184.75.

Chevron Stock Performance

Chevron stock opened at $157.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.90. Chevron has a 52-week low of $139.62 and a 52-week high of $172.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.12.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.26. Chevron had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 10.63%. The firm had revenue of $47.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Chevron will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. This is a positive change from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Alana K. Knowles sold 2,800 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.09, for a total value of $448,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 276 shares in the company, valued at $44,184.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Chevron by 1.8% during the first quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 3,492 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Chevron by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,761 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its holdings in Chevron by 3.8% during the third quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 1,758 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group boosted its holdings in Chevron by 1.5% during the first quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 4,346 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mayfair Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Chevron by 0.7% during the first quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,407 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,484,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.