Chevron shares close higher on Thursday, company’s appeal related to tax case dismissed by the court in Australia

On April 21st the court in Australia dismissed an appeal by Chevron Corporation (CVX) against the Australian tax office, which was related to a tax bill of AUD 340 million, including penalties and interest. The case covered tax years from 2004 through 2008.

Chevron shares closed higher on Thursday, while also marking their largest daily gain since April 4th. The stock went up 0.62% ($0.65) to $104.88, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $105.69 and $104.36 respectively. In the week ended on April 16th the shares of the energy giant lost 2.54% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the worst performance since the week ended on March 19th. However, the stock has pared its loss to 2.32% so far during the current month, following a 4.56% slump in March. The latter has been the second drop in seven months. For the entire past year, Chevron shares gained 30.84%.

The Federal Court found that Chevron had underpaid taxes by using a AUD 2.5 billion cross-border credit facility, which included an unusually high interest rate, thus, effectively reducing its tax obligations within Australia.

“The economic effects of the internal financing structure put in place … included CAHPLs (Chevron Australia Holdings Pty Ltds) Australian taxable income being reduced by the deductions it claimed for the interest payments it made to its United States subsidiary”, the Courts latest ruling showed.

“We will review the decision to determine next steps, which may include an appeal to the High Court of Australia”, a spokesperson for Chevron said in a response to the judgment, cited by Reuters.

According to CNN Money, the 23 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Chevron’s stock price, have a median target of $125.00, with a high estimate of $147.00 and a low estimate of $103.00. The median estimate is a 19.18% surge compared to the closing price of $104.88 on April 20th.

The same media also reported that 17 out of 27 surveyed investment analysts had rated Chevron Corporation’ stock as “Buy”, while 10 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Chevron stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $105.00
R2 – $105.12
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $105.25
R4 (Long Breakout) – $105.61
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $106.04
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $106.22

S1 – $104.76
S2 – $104.64
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $104.51
S4 (Short Breakout) – $104.15
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $103.72
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $103.54

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Chevron Corporation (CVX) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $107.41
R1 – $108.89
R2 – $111.68
R3 – $113.16
R4 – $114.64

S1 – $104.62
S2 – $103.14
S3 – $100.35
S4 – $97.56