Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading Down 5.2% – What’s Next?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) was down 5.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $157.65 and last traded at $157.81. Approximately 4,974,417 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 7,612,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CVX shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $188.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.13.

Chevron Trading Down 6.3 %

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 has a fifty day moving average of $157.63 and a 200 day moving average of $154.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $274.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.08.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.79 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. 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 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is 70.37%.

Insider Activity at Chevron

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 9,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.50, for a total transaction of $1,422,062.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,192.50. This trade represents a 89.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank boosted its stake in Chevron by 8.4% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 8,095 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron during the third quarter worth about $2,370,000. Atom Investors LP bought a new stake in Chevron in the 3rd quarter valued at about $360,000. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Chevron by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 32,029 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,717,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 12.6% in the third quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

About Chevron

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.