California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.40.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CRC. Bank of America raised shares of California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on California Resources in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on California Resources in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total value of $883,762.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,269.20. The trade was a 34.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total transaction of $488,927.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,531 shares in the company, valued at $475,603.25. The trade was a 50.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 61.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in California Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in California Resources by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,224 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of California Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of CRC opened at $51.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $55.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.07. California Resources has a twelve month low of $43.09 and a twelve month high of $60.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.13 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 194.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.3875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.41%.

About California Resources

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.