California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Hits New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares hit a 52-week high — CRC traded as high as $69.93 and several brokers raised targets (UBS to $75, Barclays to $72), leaving an average price target of $69.80 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Mixed quarterly results — California Resources reported $0.47 EPS (missed by $0.02) while revenue beat at $924M; the company has a $6.09B market cap and a P/E of 16.77, with analysts projecting about $3.85 EPS for the year.
• Dividend and insider activity — CRC paid a $0.405 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.62, yield 2.4%, payout ~39.7%), and insiders sold roughly 72,283 shares (~$4.64M) recently, despite institutional ownership of ~97.8%.

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $69.93 and last traded at $68.6530, with a volume of 157127 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $68.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CRC. UBS Group boosted their price target on California Resources from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research upgraded California Resources from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Pickering Energy Partners lowered California Resources from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on California Resources from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.80.

California Resources Trading Down 0.4%

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $58.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 1.12.

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

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. California Resources's payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total value of $545,612.44. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,547.64. This trade represents a 52.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $1,515,010.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,236 shares in the company, valued at $5,416,885.32. This trade represents a 21.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,683 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in California Resources by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in California Resources by 29.7% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Resources by 82.5% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of California Resources by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,440 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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