Cove Street Capital LLC Has $1.04 Million Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Cove Street Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 55.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,509 shares during the quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,509,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.82.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $48.84 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $44.70 and a 12 month high of $71.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

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.