Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Price Target Raised to $77.00

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its target price boosted by Susquehanna from $70.00 to $77.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a positive rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on OXY. Stephens lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.46.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $62.44 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $38.80 and a 12 month high of $67.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $62.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.20.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $8.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 28.36%. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was up 53.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth $12,868,205,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1,329.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 59,725 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 55,546 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $10,041,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,168,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $140,947,000 after buying an additional 145,100 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,685,169 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $109,536,000 after buying an additional 66,438 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an energy company engaged in oil and natural gas exploration, development and production. Its operations are focused primarily on the United States, including the Permian and DJ basins, as well as selected international regions in the Middle East and North Africa.

The company’s OxyChem subsidiary manufactures and markets chlor-alkali chemicals, vinyls and other chemical products used in water treatment, construction, healthcare, packaging and industrial applications.