Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading 0.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shares shot up 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $149.55 and last traded at $148.72. 955,729 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,608,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Chevron from $196.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Chevron from $189.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $183.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chevron presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.07.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $271.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $146.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.04.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $51.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.68 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.08 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Chevron’s payout ratio is 64.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CVX. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Chevron by 118.0% during the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its stake in Chevron by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Chevron in the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification of liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas; and carbon capture and storage, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.