Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $151.55 and last traded at $150.79. 1,149,740 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 7,761,718 shares. The stock had previously closed at $149.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $183.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Chevron from $196.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Chevron from $185.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.59.

Chevron Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $145.46 and its 200 day moving average is $153.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.93 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $51.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.68 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 64.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Iams Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Chevron by 10.5% during the third quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,294 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,958,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in Chevron by 1.8% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 228,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $33,671,000 after purchasing an additional 4,004 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Chevron by 97.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 46,181 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 22,735 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Chevron by 4.3% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,887 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Novare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Chevron by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 65,311 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,618,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

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.