Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Trading 0.2% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) were up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $153.65 and last traded at $153.51. Approximately 1,157,336 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 7,736,646 shares. The stock had previously closed at $153.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $163.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Chevron from $195.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Chevron from $164.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Chevron in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.13.

Chevron Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $274.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 11.44%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chevron Co. will post 11.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Chevron’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. Chevron’s payout ratio is 67.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Chevron news, CEO Michael K. Wirth sold 164,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Chevron during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rational Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Chevron during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Chevron during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Chevron by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. 72.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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.