Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price rose 0.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $158.23 and last traded at $158.08. Approximately 1,881,915 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 7,285,288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $156.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on CVX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Chevron from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. DZ Bank raised Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $168.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Chevron from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Chevron has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.27.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $153.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.06.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $50.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.86 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.05 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 71.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total value of $26,357,398.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $685,356.40. The trade was a 97.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVX. Marietta Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Chevron by 10.9% in the third quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,484 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,965 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 8,246 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,108,760 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,581,137,000 after buying an additional 3,203,899 shares during the period. RPG Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Chevron by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 121,167 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $17,844,000 after buying an additional 3,933 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Chevron by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,431,429,000 after buying an additional 874,962 shares during the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chevron Company Profile

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.