Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.24 Per Share

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the oil and gas producer on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Occidental Petroleum has increased its dividend payment by an average of 180.2% annually over the last three years. Occidental Petroleum has a dividend payout ratio of 21.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Occidental Petroleum to earn $3.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.7%.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $51.00. 27,089,919 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,549,388. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.45. Occidental Petroleum has a 12 month low of $45.17 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on OXY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.71.

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.