Occidental Petroleum Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.22 (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.22 per share by the oil and gas producer on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Occidental Petroleum has decreased its dividend by an average of 4.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Occidental Petroleum has a payout ratio of 19.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Occidental Petroleum to earn $5.04 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 17.5%.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $64.66. The stock had a trading volume of 5,486,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,506,513. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $57.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 1.64. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $55.12 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.40.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. The firm had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The firm’s revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

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.