Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Raises Dividend to $0.24 Per Share

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the oil and gas producer on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Occidental Petroleum has increased its dividend payment by an average of 180.2% per year over the last three years. Occidental Petroleum has a payout ratio of 21.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Occidental Petroleum to earn $3.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.7%.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY traded up $2.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.00. 27,199,943 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,553,355. Occidental Petroleum has a 12-month low of $45.17 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 15.89%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.