Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.00.

CLB has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

Core Laboratories stock opened at $21.59 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.09. Core Laboratories has a 52 week low of $13.82 and a 52 week high of $25.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 2.35.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 15.84%. The firm had revenue of $134.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Core Laboratories will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Core Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Core Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 23.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Core Laboratories by 13.9% during the first quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,351 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 11.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Core Laboratories

Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs.