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

Key Points

• California Resources has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 14 firms, with an average 12-month price target of $71.90.
• Recent broker updates were mixed: Mizuho and Barclays raised their price targets and reiterated bullish ratings, while Wall Street Zen and Zacks Research downgraded the stock to hold.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of $0.88, matching estimates, but revenue fell sharply year over year; it also paid a $0.405 quarterly dividend for a 3.1% annualized yield.

Shares of California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $71.90.

Several brokerages have commented on CRC. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of California Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on California Resources from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of California Resources stock opened at $52.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of -10.03 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.95 and a 200 day moving average of $57.93. California Resources has a 52 week low of $43.24 and a 52 week high of $71.98.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88. The company had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $947.50 million. California Resources had a positive return on equity of 10.12% and a negative net margin of 16.10%.The firm's revenue was down 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that California Resources will post 4.47 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 paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. California Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -31.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In related news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $642,978.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 159,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,608,896. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 363.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 561 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in California Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in California Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in California Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in California Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About California Resources

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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