Investing.com -- Shares in oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) are "well positioned" to reverse a year of underperformance against industry peers in 2024, according to analysts at Jefferies.
In a note to clients raising their rating of the company to "Buy" from "Hold," the analysts said improved execution, better visibility and "confidence in numbers" could translate into possible upward revisions and improved valuations in the stock.
Jefferies' upgrade comes after several other analysts on Wall Street slashed their earnings estimates for Chevron late last year. In 2023, the group's stock fell steeply, dragged down in particular by weak output at its key shale operations in the Permian Basin and delays at the expansion of a massive oil project in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Michael Wirth has said the expected date for the approval of a $53 billion acquisition of peer Hess Corp (NYSE:HES) will be pushed back due to requests for information from U.S. antitrust regulators. The delay will extend the time that Chevron does not have access to the roughly 400,000 barrels of oil and gas per day that Hess produces.
A spokesperson for Chevron told Reuters in December that the company recognized that it had "not been performing" to its potential.