Scotiabank Downgrades Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) to Sector Perform

Scotiabank downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $40.00 target price on the oil and gas producer's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.10.

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Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $37.83. The company had a trading volume of 5,045,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,773,579. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $69.44. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $46.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.