Top 12 Oil and Gas Stocks To Invest In According to Hedge Funds

2. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 71

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) is an independent exploration and production company with energy and chemical assets around the globe, including in the United States, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)’s recent $12 billion acquisition of CrownRock has significantly bolstered its presence in the Permian Basin, but it has also raised concerns about the company’s financial leverage. To pay off its mounting debt, Occidental had to resort to selling some of its properties in July for $970 million, resulting in a loss of $572 million on the sales. The asset sales also caused the company’s Q3 2024 operating profit from pumping oil and gas to fall by 25%. However, proceeds from the sales helped reduce Occidental’s heavy debt load, and long-term debt at the end of the quarter was $25.46 billion, down $4 billion. Despite the reduction in profits, the company managed to generate $1.5 billion of free cash flow before working capital, finishing the quarter with $1.8 billion of unrestricted cash.

Moreover, thanks to its CrownRock acquisition, the oil major’s Q3 oil production rose 15.7% to 1.4 million barrels of oil and gas per day. Full-year production from expanded Permian properties should reach 661,000 barrels of oil and gas per day, up 12% from a year ago.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)’s stock price is a little over $45.3 as of the writing of this article, down by over 24% since the beginning of the year, primarily due to broader market pessimism. However, it must be kept in mind that Warren Buffett, a notable advocate for OXY, bought shares in the $60s, further reinforcing confidence in the company’s long-term potential.

To keep up with an evolving energy landscape, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) is also making significant investments in carbon capture and storage technologies.  The company’s STRATOS, the largest direct air capture (DAC) facility in the world with an initial 250,000 tons per annum load capacity, is expected to come online in mid-2025.