California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in California Resources fell sharply—by 52.7% to 3,429,171 shares as of March 31 (about 3.9% of the stock) with a days-to-cover ratio of 2.3.
• Company insiders have been net sellers: EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares and a director sold 16,372 shares in March, and insiders have sold 72,283 shares worth $4.64M in the past 90 days.
• Wall Street sentiment is positive overall—CRC carries a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $70.50, backed by recent upgrades and raised targets from several firms.

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,429,171 shares, a decline of 52.7% from the March 15th total of 7,243,668 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,514,498 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $1,514,626.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,182,916.77. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total value of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 76,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,944,259.95. This represents a 17.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of California Resources by 363.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 561 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CRC shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of California Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of California Resources from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Zacks Research upgraded California Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $70.50.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of CRC opened at $66.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.68 and a 200-day moving average of $52.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. California Resources has a 52 week low of $32.47 and a 52 week high of $71.98.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $789.67 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.California Resources's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that California Resources will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. California Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.71%.

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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