California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Fourteen brokerages give California Resources an average “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average 12-month price target of $72.27 versus the reported $54.23 share price.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.99, missing the $1.36 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.30 billion, up 33% year over year and above expectations.
• California Resources declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, representing a 3.0% annualized yield; institutional investors own 97.79% of the stock.

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.2727.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised California Resources from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of California Resources from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Barclays set a $74.00 target price on shares of California Resources and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of California Resources from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Stephens set a $85.00 price target on shares of California Resources and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th.

California Resources Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:CRC opened at $54.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.87 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.56. California Resources has a one year low of $43.24 and a one year high of $71.98. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $52.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.63.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by ($0.37). California Resources had a negative net margin of 3.79% and a positive return on equity of 9.82%. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $960.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that California Resources will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. California Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -119.12%.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, EVP Jay Bys sold 11,907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $642,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 147,517 shares in the company, valued at $7,965,918. The trade was a 7.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,181,806 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $186,968,000 after buying an additional 632,170 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 5,203.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,049,102 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $214,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972,759 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in California Resources by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,842,223 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $171,786,000 after acquiring an additional 491,751 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in California Resources by 200.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,344,493 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $104,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC lifted its holdings in California Resources by 63.8% in the second quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 2,000,649 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $91,370,000 after acquiring an additional 779,280 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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