Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on OXY. UBS Group lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.75.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY stock opened at $48.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $47.20 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.16 and a 200-day moving average of $55.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 1.57.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,007,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $206,560,000 after buying an additional 98,703 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,707,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $233,687,000 after buying an additional 532,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,720,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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.