Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Down 0.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) were down 0.3% during trading on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $168.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Chevron traded as low as $150.42 and last traded at $150.79. Approximately 1,898,839 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 7,799,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.25.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Chevron in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Chevron from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $183.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 126,093,326 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,808,081,000 after acquiring an additional 15,845,037 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Chevron by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 17,111,051 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,676,957,000 after purchasing an additional 501,969 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Chevron by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,009,766 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,525,380,000 after purchasing an additional 495,879 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Chevron by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,570,971 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,122,772,000 after purchasing an additional 629,644 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Chevron by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,418,287 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,116,600,000 after buying an additional 743,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $145.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $275.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.09.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $51.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.68 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The business’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 11.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.98%.

About Chevron

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.