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Occidental (OXY) Soars 5.1%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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Occidental Petroleum (OXY - Free Report) shares ended the last trading session 5.1% higher at $58.41. The jump came on an impressive volume with a higher-than-average number of shares changing hands in the session. This compares to the stock's 17.7% gain over the past four weeks.

Occidental Petroleum is a low-cost producer with significant exposure to the Permian Basin and is likely to benefit from rising oil prices amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. The company also has international operations and some exposure in the region. However, none of its operations depend on the Strait of Hormuz for transporting oil, which provides an added advantage.

Occidental Petroleum has been efficiently using the proceeds from noncore asset sales to reduce its outstanding debt, which is reducing interest expenses and improving margins. Over the past 20 months, the company has repaid $13.9 billion in debt, reducing its annual interest expenses by $740 million.

This oil and gas exploration and production company is expected to post quarterly earnings of 37 cents per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -57.5%. Revenues are expected to be $5.09 billion, down 25.7% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For Occidental, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 116.5% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on OXY going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Occidental belongs to the Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry. Another stock from the same industry, Tidewater (TDW - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 0.1% lower at $76.4. Over the past month, TDW has returned 7.5%.

For Tidewater, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -6.3% over the past month to 75 cents. This represents a change of -9.6% from what the company reported a year ago. Tidewater currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

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