Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 28,846,904 shares, a decrease of 12.6% from the February 12th total of 33,000,202 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,530,603 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,530,603 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Key Stories Impacting Occidental Petroleum

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its price target to $72 and moved to an “outperform” rating, implying meaningful upside and signaling stronger analyst conviction. Mizuho Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target (to $59) and an analyst note flagged upside for the stock, which supports near-term buying interest among institutional investors. Barclays Note
• Positive Sentiment: Higher oil prices and renewed geopolitical supply risk (Middle East conflict headlines) are a sector tailwind — energy names, including Occidental, benefit from the rally in crude and the prospect of stronger margins/cash flows. Oil Price/Geopolitics
• Neutral Sentiment: Occidental is seeing trading activity tied to index flows (Russell 1000 coverage), which can boost intraday liquidity but is not a fundamental catalyst. Russell 1000 Activity
• Neutral Sentiment: Media/retail interest is elevated (Zacks notes OXY is trending), which can amplify moves but doesn’t guarantee sustained performance. Zacks Trending
• Negative Sentiment: The recent uptick comes with some caution: OXY had a short-lived pullback in mid-March and price moves have sometimes been on below-average volume, which reduces conviction for a sustained breakout. Recent Decline/Volume

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $58.52. The stock had a trading volume of 8,573,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,873,149. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.33 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $48.17 and its 200 day moving average is $44.74. Occidental Petroleum has a twelve month low of $34.78 and a twelve month high of $59.15.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. 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 payout ratio is 64.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carrera Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. Weiss Ratings raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.05.

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.