Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target Raised to $67.00

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $45.00 to $67.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on OXY. Susquehanna raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Occidental Petroleum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.83.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 4.2%

NYSE OXY opened at $62.28 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $61.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.69 and a beta of 0.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Occidental Petroleum has a 52 week low of $34.78 and a 52 week high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 64.60%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,345,000. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 100.3% during the third quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 267,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $12,654,000 after acquiring an additional 134,128 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $35,517,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 154.7% in the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 29,566 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 17,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gifford Fong Associates boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 41.2% in the third quarter. Gifford Fong Associates now owns 171,429 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $8,100,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Key Occidental Petroleum News

Here are the key news stories impacting Occidental Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Stephens raised its price target to $74 and kept an “overweight” rating, signaling meaningful analyst support and ~19% upside from recent levels. Stephens Adjusts Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s closing of the OxyChem deal removes the chemicals business and provides Occidental with proceeds to pay down debt and focus on core oil & gas — a structural balance-sheet positive. Berkshire Adds OxyChem
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst estimate revisions and coverage have been constructive recently (Zacks and other outlets note rising earnings estimates), supporting medium-term upside if commodity tailwinds return. Earnings Estimates Rising (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Occidental scheduled Q1 results for May 5 with a May 6 conference call — an event risk that could move the stock depending on production, realized prices and use of OxyChem proceeds. Q1 Results Announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Crude oil pulled back today as markets priced in a possible de‑escalation in the Iran conflict and reported larger U.S. inventory builds — reducing the geopolitical premium that had supported energy stocks. This drove the immediate weakness in OXY. Markets Rally; Oil Falls (Fool)
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term profit-taking and technical selling after a strong run higher amplified the drop in OXY, a common reaction in oil-levered names when crude eases. Shares Fall as Crude Retreats (QuiverQuant)
• Negative Sentiment: Citi maintained a hold rating recently and some large institutional rebalancing has shown sizable repositioning in funds — items that can cap near-term upside if selling persists. Citi Keeps Hold Rating

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.