Occidental recovered from racking up debt to buy Anadarko Petroleum for $35.7 billion just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit demand for Petroleum. He paid down almost $5bn in debt and achieved his internal deleveraging goal, opening the door for a $3bn share buyback program to begin. Occidental repurchased $1.1 billion through August 1.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc now has a 19.5% stake in Occidental, below the threshold at which he could record some of the oil company’s profits with his own.
If it reaches 20% ownership, Berkshire could potentially report its proportionate share of Houston-based Occidental’s profits through the so-called equity method of accounting, which could add billions of dollars to annual earnings.
The company’s share price more than doubled this year to $65.06 on Tuesday, with the company benefiting from rising oil prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The rally prompted some investment firms, including Goldman Sachs, in recent weeks to downgrade the company, saying its cash-generating potential is already priced in.
Source: Ambito
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