Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Up 0.5% – Should You Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price rose 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $159.92 and last traded at $159.45. Approximately 1,528,284 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 7,237,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Chevron from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Chevron in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Chevron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.13.

Chevron Stock Performance

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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $155.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,192.50. This represents a 89.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Chevron

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Chevron by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 159,105,244 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $23,431,429,000 after purchasing an additional 874,962 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chevron by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 36,269,270 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,247,142,000 after acquiring an additional 392,916 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Chevron by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,855,566 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,613,960,000 after acquiring an additional 746,806 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter worth $3,017,750,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Chevron by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,471,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,965,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.