Occidental Petroleum downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs downgraded Occidental Petroleum (OXY) to Sell from Neutral with a price target of $45, down from $54. The firm believes that in a “range-bound” oil price macro environment, return of capital to shareholders becomes incrementally more important as investors evaluate per share value accretion. While Occidental’s balance sheet management is the prudent allocation of capital given its current leverage, the shares to underperform peers given that the company will not be able to defend shares in periods of dislocation, the analyst tells investors in a research note.