Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target Raised to $72.00

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its price target lifted by Mizuho from $67.00 to $72.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Argus raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.05.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $59.61 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.94. The firm has a market cap of $58.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03 and a beta of 0.34. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $34.78 and a 52-week high of $60.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.60%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 57,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 16,506 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 173,782 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,301,000 after buying an additional 19,279 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $273,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake 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 worth $8,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.1% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.