Mizuho analyst Paul Sankey downgraded Occidental Petroleum (OPC) to Neutral from Buy and lowered his price target for the shares to $70 from $83. The analyst says reports of Occidental bidding for Anadark (APC) are "well outside" his "prior understanding of company strategy." A bid for Anadarko would imply either a total change in strategy or a need for free cash flow that would be provided by Anadarko on the part of Occidental, Sankey tells investors in a research note. The latter would imply Occidental's future "dividend growth or even dividend cover is not as strong as we had assumed," he adds.