Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.13.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.0 %

OXY opened at $51.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.83. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $49.75 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,331,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,975,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,547,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,661,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $104,707,000 after purchasing an additional 277,462 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at $970,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently 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.