Chevron Rises On Potential Stake Sale In South Africa

Chevron Corporation (CVX – Analyst Report) will likely divest its 75% interest in its South African business, going by Bloomberg. Following the news, the U.S. energy major rose 2.6% on the NYSE.

The operation of the integrated player in South Africa comprises a refinery unit in Cape Town with an 110,000 barrel per day capacity. Chevron’s business also includes a lubricant plant located in Durban. The marketing of the products are done specifically by the company through almost 845 Caltex filling stations.

In details, the integrated player is looking for buyers for its business stake in South Africa. This is in line with the divestment program declared the company in 2014.  

San Ramon, CA-based Chevron is a publicly traded oil and gas company. It is engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, refining and marketing of petroleum products, manufacturing of chemicals, and other energy-related businesses. The company is expected to report its quarterly results on Jan 29, 2016. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter is 51 cents per share.

It is common knowledge that the ongoing oil price slump has adversely affected Chevron’s cash flows, particularly at its upstream unit which is its largest earnings generating segment. But Chevron is not the only energy player to suffer from the oil plunge. In fact, the bearish crude has already hammered Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A) during 2015. This is evident from Shell’s prediction that its 2015 profit will plunge more than 50% from 2014.

Chevron currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), implying that it will significantly underperform the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

Meanwhile, some better-ranked players in the energy space include Transocean Ltd. (RIG – Analyst Report), Tesoro Corporation (TSO – Analyst Report) and Valero Energy Corporation (VLO – Analyst Report). Each of these stocks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).