Stephens Begins Coverage on California Resources (NYSE:CRC)

Stephens started coverage on shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $73.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CRC. Bank of America raised California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $57.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of California Resources from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on California Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.50.

California Resources Trading Up 1.0 %

California Resources stock opened at $53.12 on Tuesday. California Resources has a 52-week low of $43.09 and a 52-week high of $57.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.89.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.36). California Resources had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business had revenue of $514.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $477.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that California Resources will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.3875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from California Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. California Resources’s payout ratio is 44.41%.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other California Resources news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $530,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,953. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other California Resources news, Director Christian S. Kendall bought 20,895 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $47.97 per share, with a total value of $1,002,333.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,180,062. This represents a 500.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $530,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,301 shares in the company, valued at $916,953. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 61.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Privium Fund Management B.V. purchased a new stake in California Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $258,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of California Resources by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,026 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Hyperion Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of California Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $275,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Resources in the second quarter worth $320,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

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.