Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Shares Up 4% – Time to Buy?

Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX) rose 4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $155.93 and last traded at $154.74. Approximately 3,907,754 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 7,626,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on Chevron from $154.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Chevron from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $183.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Chevron in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut their target price on Chevron from $205.00 to $189.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Chevron from $196.00 to $169.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chevron has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.07.

Chevron Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $279.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $146.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $51.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.68 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 13.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 10.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chevron

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rational Advisors LLC bought a new position in Chevron during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron by 118.0% during the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 218 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its holdings in Chevron by 66.7% during the second quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC bought a new position in Chevron during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Chevron during the third quarter worth about $47,000. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.