Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Stock Falls 3.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)’s stock price was down 3.7% on Wednesday after DZ Bank downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. DZ Bank now has a $240.00 price target on the stock. Chevron traded as low as $214.61 and last traded at $216.9420. Approximately 11,531,926 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 10,279,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.27.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CVX. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Chevron from $207.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Chevron from $190.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Chevron from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $241.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Chevron from $230.00 to $224.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.04.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other Chevron news, insider R. Pate sold 40,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.65, for a total transaction of $9,224,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,992,480.15. This trade represents a 82.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Wirth sold 317,100 shares of Chevron stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.46, for a total value of $63,565,866.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 26,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,273,701.68. This represents a 92.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 379,470 shares of company stock valued at $77,216,415 in the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Chevron

Here are the key news stories impacting Chevron this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Chevron and ExxonMobil reported strong third-quarter results, with refining strength and cost discipline supporting earnings. Both companies are also reducing debt and increasing buybacks, which could support shareholder returns. Why ExxonMobil and Chevron Reminded Investors to Keep it Simple
• Positive Sentiment: Chevron is advancing talks for Iraq’s West Qurna 2 oilfield and pursuing additional projects in the country, potentially expanding its upstream growth opportunities. Chevron Advances Iraq Oilfield Deal, Expands Growth Prospects
• Negative Sentiment: Oil shares fell after Democrats won the Senate. The result may have prompted investor concerns about the political outlook for the oil industry, weighing on CVX alongside other energy stocks. Oil Stocks Take a Beating on Midterm Results
• Negative Sentiment: Recent signals of possible Iran peace talks have also heightened concern about lower oil prices, a potential headwind for producers, though reports of military strikes have added uncertainty to the outlook. Iran Settlement Signals and Oil Prices

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its position in Chevron by 18.3% during the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 221,389 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $45,210,000 after purchasing an additional 34,168 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Chevron by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 24,272 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,957,000 after buying an additional 3,628 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC boosted its holdings in Chevron by 1,627.4% in the third quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 43,099 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,801,000 after acquiring an additional 40,604 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in Chevron by 1.8% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,162,074 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $237,307,000 after acquiring an additional 21,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Chevron during the third quarter valued at about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.42% of the company’s stock.

Chevron Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.68. The company has a market capitalization of $428.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.87 by $0.41. Chevron had a return on equity of 14.64% and a net margin of 11.56%. The business had revenue of $65.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Chevron Corporation will post 18.20 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Chevron’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.08%.

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is an integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, transportation and sale of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil and gas exploration and production, while its downstream business includes refining crude oil, marketing fuels and manufacturing and distributing lubricants, petrochemicals and fuel additives.

The company also invests in lower-carbon businesses and technologies, including renewable fuels, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and other opportunities intended to reduce emissions from its operations and energy products.