California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Wall Street sentiment is positive: California Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 14 analysts, with 10 buy ratings and one strong buy. The average 1-year price target is $73.50.
• Recent analyst moves were mostly bullish: Mizuho, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Wall Street Zen all raised ratings or price targets, while only Weiss Ratings issued a small downgrade. The latest target increases suggest improving confidence in the stock.
• The company continues to reward shareholders: California Resources recently paid a $0.405 quarterly dividend, equal to a 2.9% yield on an annualized basis. However, the stock has been volatile, trading at $55.22 versus a 52-week high of $71.98.

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.50.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CRC shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup raised California Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded California Resources from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised California Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 15th.

California Resources Stock Down 0.2%

California Resources stock opened at $55.22 on Monday. California Resources has a fifty-two week low of $43.24 and a fifty-two week high of $71.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.62 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.05.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.88. California Resources had a positive return on equity of 10.12% and a negative net margin of 16.10%.The business had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $947.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that California Resources will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. California Resources's payout ratio is presently -31.15%.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In related news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.68, for a total value of $734,423.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 171,331 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,696.08. The trade was a 6.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in California Resources by 57.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 585,709 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $40,543,000 after acquiring an additional 212,827 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in California Resources by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 480,413 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $33,254,000 after acquiring an additional 54,703 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in California Resources by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in California Resources by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 76,343 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,284,000 after acquiring an additional 15,486 shares during the period. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in California Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,663,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.79% of the company's stock.

California Resources Company Profile

California Resources Corporation NYSE: CRC is an independent exploration and production company focused exclusively on developing oil and natural gas assets in California. Headquartered in Newport Beach, the company engages in hydraulic fracturing, well completions, reservoir management and enhanced recovery operations to produce crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CRC's operations are concentrated in three core regions: the Los Angeles Basin, the Ventura Basin and the San Joaquin Basin.

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