Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $71.94.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on OXY. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 243,715,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $14,552,271,000 after purchasing an additional 19,586,612 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 24.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,021,929 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,651 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,995,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $357,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,052 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,665,494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $302,697,000 after purchasing an additional 125,927 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,699,722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $220,910,000 after purchasing an additional 82,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of OXY opened at $65.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $57.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 1.64. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $55.12 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $64.98 and a 200 day moving average of $61.34.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.51%.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.