Benzinga - Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) continued its uptrend in early trading on Tuesday.
The stock has lagged peers over the past six months, reflecting concerns around the 2023 capital spending levels and the unstable oil macro environment, according to Goldman Sachs.
The Analyst: Neil Mehta upgraded the rating on Occidental Petroleum from Neutral to Buy, while keeping the price target unchanged at $81.
Check out other analyst stock ratings.
The Thesis: Four parts of the company’s story are underappreciated, Mehta said in the upgrade note.
- The magnitude of free cash flows that can be returned to shareholders and used for redeeming preferred equity.
- The Upstream portfolio seems underappreciated, “with high-quality assets in the Middle East and Permian,” the analyst wrote.
- The Chemicals business is a “consistent source of cash flow, with above-normal earnings likely in 2023 from the caustic soda business,” he added
- Investors at large remain skeptical around the Low Carbon segment, while the Inflation Reduction Act “should provide some ballast” and the “path to stated cost reduction targets in the long-term can unlock the value for the business,” Mehta further mentioned.
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