Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 1.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shot up 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $145.34 and last traded at $144.84. 6,132,790 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 7,800,825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $143.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on CVX. DZ Bank raised shares of Chevron from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Chevron in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Chevron from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.19.

Chevron Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $263.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $153.81 and its 200-day moving average is $151.30.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.04. Chevron had a net margin of 8.44% and a return on equity of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $50.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Chevron’s payout ratio is currently 71.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.13, for a total value of $26,357,398.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 4,280 shares in the company, valued at $685,356.40. This trade represents 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 through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its position in shares of Chevron by 16.7% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 454 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Chevron by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,769 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in Chevron by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 9,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Chevron by 5.2% during the third quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.