Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Price Up 2.2% – Time to Buy?

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s share price shot up 2.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $208.42 and last traded at $206.25. 10,542,211 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 10,727,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.86.

More Chevron News

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron plans to invest more than $7 billion in Venezuela over five years under updated joint-venture agreements. The company is targeting production of approximately 600,000 barrels per day, more than double its current output in the country. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The revised terms include enhanced fiscal, commercial and legal provisions, as well as additional Venezuelan assets for Chevron’s joint ventures. These changes could improve the economics of investing in and expanding mature, heavy-oil fields. Chevron announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron’s existing operating presence gives it an early-mover advantage as the United States seeks to rebuild Venezuelan production and increase access to the country’s large oil reserves. Investors view the expansion as a potential source of long-term upstream volume and cash flow. New York Times article
• Neutral Sentiment: Higher crude prices, supported by renewed U.S.-Iran conflict and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, are providing a broader lift to energy stocks and improving the backdrop for Chevron’s production investments.
• Negative Sentiment: The Venezuelan opportunity carries substantial execution and geopolitical risk. Chevron must commit significant capital to aging infrastructure and difficult heavy-oil projects, while changes in government policy, sanctions, legal protections or operating conditions could delay returns.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CVX. Dbs Bank raised shares of Chevron to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Chevron from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Chevron from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.48.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $416.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $188.76 and a 200-day moving average of $189.24.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.55 by $0.51. Chevron had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $67.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 57.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Chevron Corporation will post 16.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be issued a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 68.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

In related news, Director John B. Hess sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.26, for a total transaction of $19,426,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 178,045 shares in the company, valued at $34,587,021.70. This represents a 35.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Benjamin Walz sold 16,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.06, for a total value of $3,377,808.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14 shares in the company, valued at $2,814.84. This represents a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,152,582 shares of company stock worth $225,853,661 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $786,000. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Chevron during the 2nd quarter valued at $973,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,276,000. Indivisible Partners acquired a new position in shares of Chevron during the 4th quarter valued at $1,923,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Chevron by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,251,102 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $258,853,000 after buying an additional 79,439 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Company Profile

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevron’s core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide.

Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco.