5 Best Hot Stocks To Buy Right Now

2. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

YTD Return as of October 17: 120.70%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) is among the most profitable and cash-rich momentum stocks to buy now. The stock is also trading cheaply relative to earnings and is providing investors with an attractive buying opportunity. As of October 17, the stock has gained 120.70% year to date and is trading at a PE multiple of 6x. The company has a trailing twelve-month operating margin of 34% and free cash flows of $11.47 billion.

This September, 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 close of Q2 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 hedge funds in Q1 2022 with stakes worth $12.61 billion. As of June 30, Berkshire Hathaway is the largest shareholder in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) and has stakes worth $9.33 billion in the company.

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!””