StockNews.com Upgrades California Resources (NYSE:CRC) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $57.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price target on California Resources from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.50.

California Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CRC opened at $57.28 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $53.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. California Resources has a 1-year low of $43.09 and a 1-year high of $60.41.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.62. California Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.13 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 194.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that California Resources will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.3875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. California Resources’s payout ratio is 24.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Francisco Leon sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.18, for a total value of $368,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 166,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,437.26. The trade was a 4.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total value of $488,927.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,603.25. The trade was a 50.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,270 shares of company stock valued at $1,387,778 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in California Resources by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,100,283 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $446,326,000 after buying an additional 344,043 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in California Resources by 4.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,576,306 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $190,328,000 after purchasing an additional 165,629 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of California Resources by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,449,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $181,021,000 after acquiring an additional 168,278 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in California Resources by 18.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,631,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $86,825,000 after purchasing an additional 250,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in California Resources by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,592,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $83,583,000 after purchasing an additional 55,815 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Company Profile

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.