Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Shares Down 1.4%

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) dropped 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $66.98 and last traded at $67.27. Approximately 1,767,528 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 8,483,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on OXY. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 3.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $58.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The business had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 22.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.6% in the third quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,146 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.