Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s OXY shares are currently trading at a premium compared to its Zacks Oil and Gas - Integrated - United States industry. OXY’s current trailing 12-month Enterprise Value/Earnings before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization (EV/EBITDA) is 5.3X compared with the industry average of 4.51X. It indicates that the company is presently marginally overvalued compared to its industry.
Another company operating in this space, ConocoPhillips COP, is trading EV/EBITDA of 5.09X, at a premium compared to its industry.
Occidental Stock Trading at a Premium
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The company operates in a highly competitive industry, which might create challenges in adding new oil and gas reserves and replenishing production volumes. Occidental’s share price has dropped 17.4% in the trailing 12 months compared with its industry’s decline of 9.2%.
Occidental Stock’s Price Performance One Year
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Strong Domestic Operation Aids Occidental Stock
Occidental's strong domestic operation and focus on Permian resources have benefited the company. The company’s core development area in the Permian region has been recording solid results.
Courtesy of the contribution from acquired CrownRock assets, the midpoint of OXY’s total company production and guidance has increased from 1.25 million barrels of oil equivalents (BOE) to approximately 1.32 million BOE per day.
Occidental, through its excellent operational execution, is lowering operating expenses. OXY’s expanded design enhancements and efficient execution have led to nearly 10% unconventional well cost improvements across all U.S. Onshore basins compared to the first half of 2023. In addition, facility design and execution improvements lowered per-well F&C costs by more than 15% compared with 2023.
The company continued its stable performance in the last four quarters, resulting in an average positive surprise of 20.6%. Occidental's operational excellence, paired with a high-quality asset portfolio, allows it to deliver strong performance.
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Occidental Continues to Reduce Debts
Occidental’s top priority is strengthening its balance sheet and reducing capital servicing expenses. The drop in interest rates will allow the company to fund its future expansion projects with funds having lower interest rates.
The company, at the time of the announcement of the CrownRock acquisition on Dec. 11, 2023, set a target of $4.5 billion in debt reduction. Occidental is working efficiently to meet its debt reduction target. The company will utilize the $818 million proceeds from the previously announced Delaware Basin Barilla Draw divestiture, which is expected to close late in the third quarter. Utilization of proceeds will allow the company to achieve a total year-to-date reduction of over $3.8 billion in principal debt or 85%.
The debt reduction continues to lower the capital servicing expenses of the company. Interest expenses of Occidental at the end of second-quarter 2024 were $252 million, down 11% sequentially.
Headwinds for Occidental Stock
Fluctuations in demand and volatile global and local commodity prices affect Occidental’s results of operations. The company remains exposed to fluctuating market prices of commodities, and as of Dec. 31, 2023, there were no active commodity hedges in place. If the commodity prices drop substantially from their current level, it will impact Occidental’s performance.
OXY operates in a highly competitive environment, which could affect its profitability and growth. The company faces competition from peers to procure new reserves and replenish production volumes.
Occidental’s Earnings Estimates are Going Down
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Occidental’s 2024 and 2025 earnings per share has moved down 9.6% and 20.9%, respectively, in the past 60 days.
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Occidental’s ROE Lower Than the Industry
Return on equity, a profitability measure, reflects how effectively a company utilizes its shareholders’ funds to generate income. The trailing 12-month ROE of OXY is currently lower than its industry.
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Summing Up
Occidental’s focus on lowering debts, strength in its domestic and global operations, and contribution from acquired assets will boost performance.
However, exposure to commodity price fluctuation, declining earnings estimates, returns lower than the industry are challenges for the company.
Despite the headwinds, it is advisable to keep this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock in your portfolio, given its strong domestic operations and exposure to the prolific Permian Basin and having a Value Score of A. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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