BUZZ-Occidental Petroleum rises after Q4 profit beat, asset sale plans

Shares of oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum OXY.N rise 6.1% to more than a one-month high of $51.74

Late on Tuesday, company posted Q4 adjusted profit of 80 cents/share compared with analysts' average estimate of 70 cents/share - data compiled by LSEG

OXY announces two deals to divest some upstream assets for a total of $1.2 billion in the current quarter

"It was good to see the company announce additional non-core asset sales with expected proceeds at close during Q1, which will go to further debt reduction" - TPH Energy Research

Company plans to use the proceeds from the transactions to reduce debt; its long-term net debt at $24.98 billion, as of December 31

"OXY continues to make notable progress with its debt repayment driven recently by $1.2 billion announced divestitures" - Truist Securities

Including session's moves, stock up 4.5% YTD