5 Best-Performing S&P 500 Stocks in 2022

1. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

Year to Date Return as of September 15: 109.56%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66

On August 2, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) delivered market-beating earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The company reported earnings per share of $3.16 and beat Wall Street estimates by $0.14. The company grew its revenue by 78.6% year over year and generated a revenue of $10.7 billion for the quarter, beating market consensus by $962 million. As of September 15, the stock has gained 109.56% year to date.

On September 6, Morgan Stanley analyst Devin McDermott raised his price target on Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) to $76 from $70 and reiterated an Equal Weight rating on the shares. On September 12, Piper Sandler analyst Ryan Todd revised his price target on Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) to $92 from $93 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares.

At the end of the second quarter of 2022, 66 hedge funds were bullish on Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and held stakes worth $13.75 billion in the company. This is compared to 67 positions in the previous quarter with stakes worth $12.61 billion.

As of June 30, Berkshire Hathaway is the largest shareholder in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and owns more than 158.5 million shares of the oil giant. The investment covers 3.11% of Warren Buffett’s 13F portfolio.

Here is what Smead Capital Management had to say about Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) in its second-quarter 2022 investor letter:

“For the quarter, our best-performing stocks were Continental Resources (CLR), Merck (MRK) and Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY). Despite a steep sell-off in June in the oil and gas stocks, two of our oil stocks made the quarterly list.

If you are wondering how we are outperforming the S&P 500 Index in the first half of the year, look no further than our top three performers. Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Continental Resources (CLR) and Conoco Phillips (COP) soared in value and were barely represented in the S&P 500 Index. To quote Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, “We are in the first quarter on higher energy prices!””

You can also take a look at 13 Stocks that Best Performing Hedge Funds are Piling Into and 10 Highest Sharpe Ratio Dividend Stocks in the S&P 500.

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