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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on California Resources, with 10 buy, one strong-buy, one hold and two sell ratings. The average 12-month price target is $73.09 versus the stock’s recent price near $53.85.
• CRC’s second-quarter revenue surged 33% year over year to $1.30 billion, while reported net income reached $514 million; however, adjusted EPS of $0.99 missed the $1.36 consensus estimate and declined from $1.10 a year earlier.
• The company is expanding its California infrastructure through a roughly $63 million Crimson Midstream pipeline acquisition, reaffirmed 2026 capital guidance of $520 million–$560 million, and declared a $0.405 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of about 3%.

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.0909.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CRC shares. Weiss Ratings cut California Resources from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $78.00) on shares of California Resources in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Stephens set a $85.00 price target on shares of California Resources and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th.

Trending Headlines about California Resources

Here are the key news stories impacting California Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CRC agreed to acquire Crimson Midstream Holdings’ California pipeline platform for approximately $63 million in cash. The deal is intended to expand the company’s integrated California energy infrastructure and could improve control over transportation and midstream operations. CRC to acquire Crimson Midstream’s California pipeline platform
• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue rose 33% year over year to $1.297 billion, substantially exceeding analyst expectations of roughly $960 million. CRC reported $514 million of net income, or $5.76 per diluted share, although the result benefited from a non-cash gain tied to commodity-derivative valuations. California Resources Corporation Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial and Operating Results
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, payable September 18 to shareholders of record September 4. The dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 3%, supporting the stock’s income appeal.
• Positive Sentiment: CRC reaffirmed full-year 2026 capital guidance of $520 million to $560 million and reduced expected drilling, completions and workover spending to $370 million to $390 million. Average second-quarter production was 149 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, with oil accounting for 81%.
• Neutral Sentiment: Operating cash flow was $263 million and liquidity totaled $1.322 billion at quarter-end, providing capacity for investment and shareholder returns. However, the Crimson acquisition and capital program will require continued spending.
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted quarterly EPS of $0.99 missed consensus estimates of $1.31 to $1.36 and declined from $1.10 a year earlier. The earnings shortfall likely limited the market’s reaction to the stronger revenue and reported net income. California Resources Corporation Q2 Earnings Lag Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity showed multiple sales and no purchases during the past six months, including a 3.5 million-share sale by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Such transactions may weigh on investor sentiment, though they do not necessarily reflect the company’s operating outlook.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other California Resources news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $642,978.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 159,424 shares in the company, valued at $8,608,896. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in California Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,829,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in California Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,205,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of California Resources by 56.7% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,086 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources during the second quarter valued at about $421,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 2.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,706 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

California Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CRC opened at $53.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.36 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.47. California Resources has a 1 year low of $43.24 and a 1 year high of $71.98.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.20 million. California Resources had a negative net margin of 16.10% and a positive return on equity of 10.12%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. On average, analysts expect that California Resources will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. California Resources's payout ratio is currently -31.15%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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