Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Falls 1.6% – Should You Sell?

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) shares traded down 1.6% during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $227.63 and last traded at $228.1840. 6,429,134 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 10,331,153 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.01.

Chevron News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron is expected to post a sharp year-over-year earnings rebound, with analysts anticipating a potential quarterly beat. However, the stock’s strong year-to-date performance means much of the improvement may already be reflected in its valuation. Chevron Eyes a Q3 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Exchange-traded funds recorded approximately $50.5 million of net buying in Chevron on October 23, indicating continued institutional demand for the energy major. Chevron Sees $50.5 Million in Net ETF Buying
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron Australia signed a five-year agreement to supply South32 with 55 petajoules of natural gas beginning in 2028, providing longer-term contracted demand for its Australian business. Chevron’s Australian Business Signs Long-Term Natural Gas Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron outlined a proposed $13.8 billion expansion of its Vaca Muerta operations through 2035, targeting a tripling of oil production from the Argentine shale assets and supporting long-term growth. Chevron Plans Vaca Muerta Expansion

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on CVX shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Chevron from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Chevron from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Chevron from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $216.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $216.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.96.

Chevron Price 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 cap of $450.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $210.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.27.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.55 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $67.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.72 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Chevron Corporation will post 18.20 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John 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 value of $19,426,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 178,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,587,021.70. This represents a 35.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Walz sold 16,800 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were 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 owned 14 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,814.84. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 1,195,682 shares of company stock valued at $235,619,780 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chevron

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,136,768 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,016,651,000 after purchasing an additional 5,998,852 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Chevron in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,663,729,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Chevron by 5.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,630,227 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,716,694,000 after buying an additional 1,334,976 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Chevron by 3.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 12,185,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,521,166,000 after buying an additional 349,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Chevron during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,378,114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil and gas exploration and production, while its downstream business includes refining crude oil, marketing fuels and manufacturing and distributing lubricants, petrochemicals and fuel additives.

The company also invests in lower-carbon businesses and technologies, including renewable fuels, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and other opportunities intended to reduce emissions from its operations and energy products.