Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

OXY has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.74.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of OXY stock opened at $52.34 on Monday. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $38.80 and a 52-week high of $67.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.67. The company has a market capitalization of $52.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.14.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

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.