Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 1% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) rose 1% on Wednesday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $197.00 to $200.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Chevron traded as high as $193.70 and last traded at $193.0370. Approximately 6,125,296 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 11,295,601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.07.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on CVX. Tudor Pickering upgraded Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Chevron from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Chevron from $192.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Chevron from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $216.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a report on Friday, July 10th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John B. Hess sold 380,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.20, for a total transaction of $73,416,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 278,045 shares in the company, valued at $53,718,294. The trade was a 57.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Chevron

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target on Chevron to $200 from $197 and kept a hold rating, signaling slightly improved valuation expectations. Benzinga report
• Positive Sentiment: Oil prices jumped amid lack of progress in U.S.-Iran talks, which can support Chevron’s upstream earnings outlook and help energy stocks broadly. Yahoo Finance market update
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is expecting Chevron’s upcoming second-quarter report to show a triple-digit increase in bottom-line results, setting up a potentially strong earnings catalyst. Barchart earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Chevron shut production at a U.S. Gulf platform ahead of a tropical storm. This is a short-term operational precaution, but it could temporarily reduce output if the disruption lasts longer than expected. Seeking Alpha article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles highlighted Chevron as a Dividend Aristocrat and a long-term income stock, reinforcing its defensive profile rather than pointing to a near-term catalyst. Barchart dividend article

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVX. Cornerstone Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Chevron by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Compton Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 2,101 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Wealthspire Retirement LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Retirement LLC now owns 6,530 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 5,552 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Chevron Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $181.74 and its 200-day moving average is $183.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $47.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.86 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 6.90%. Chevron’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Chevron Corporation will post 14.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 123.40%.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company engaged in virtually all aspects of the oil and gas industry. As an integrated energy firm, Chevron’s core activities include upstream oil and natural gas exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, downstream refining and marketing of fuels and lubricants, and petrochemical manufacturing through joint ventures and subsidiaries. The company markets fuels under brands such as Chevron, Texaco and Caltex and supplies a range of products and services to retail customers, industrial users and commercial fleets worldwide.

Chevron traces its corporate lineage to the early petroleum companies that eventually became Standard Oil of California and has evolved through significant mergers and restructurings, including the acquisitions of Gulf Oil and Texaco.