Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading Up 0.9% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) shares were up 0.9% on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $57.20 and last traded at $56.64. Approximately 2,414,779 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 7,904,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.13.

The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 17.50%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on OXY. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 1,386,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.67 per share, for a total transaction of $82,752,981.48. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 250,583,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,952,323,710.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 8.7% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $67,601,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth about $63,880,000. Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,744,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 237.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 756,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $45,192,000 after purchasing an additional 532,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 1.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.89 and a 200-day moving average of $62.09.

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.