Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) shot up 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $163.10 and last traded at $163.01. 2,418,410 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 7,248,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CVX. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upgraded Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $145.00 to $185.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Chevron from $184.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.13.

Chevron Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.23. The stock has a market cap of $287.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.42 by ($0.36). Chevron had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. The trade was a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 4,672 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 15,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,416 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.