Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Capital One Financial raised their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $69.00. Capital One Financial currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Occidental Petroleum traded as high as $67.05 and last traded at $66.3070, with a volume of 22928732 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $65.32.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 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 report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.83.

Key Headlines Impacting Occidental Petroleum

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

• Positive Sentiment: Stephens raised its price target to $74 and kept an “overweight” rating, signaling meaningful analyst support and ~19% upside from recent levels. Stephens Adjusts Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway’s closing of the OxyChem deal removes the chemicals business and provides Occidental with proceeds to pay down debt and focus on core oil & gas — a structural balance-sheet positive. Berkshire Adds OxyChem
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst estimate revisions and coverage have been constructive recently (Zacks and other outlets note rising earnings estimates), supporting medium-term upside if commodity tailwinds return. Earnings Estimates Rising (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Occidental scheduled Q1 results for May 5 with a May 6 conference call — an event risk that could move the stock depending on production, realized prices and use of OxyChem proceeds. Q1 Results Announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Crude oil pulled back today as markets priced in a possible de?escalation in the Iran conflict and reported larger U.S. inventory builds — reducing the geopolitical premium that had supported energy stocks. This drove the immediate weakness in OXY. Markets Rally; Oil Falls (Fool)
• Negative Sentiment: Short-term profit-taking and technical selling after a strong run higher amplified the drop in OXY, a common reaction in oil-levered names when crude eases. Shares Fall as Crude Retreats (QuiverQuant)
• Negative Sentiment: Citi maintained a hold rating recently and some large institutional rebalancing has shown sizable repositioning in funds — items that can cap near-term upside if selling persists. Citi Keeps Hold Rating

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 155.0% during the fourth quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $52.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $61.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69 and a beta of 0.22.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.60%.

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.