California Resources Corporation $CRC Stake Trimmed by Aventail Capital Group LP

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP cut its stake in California Resources by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 44,059 shares and ending with 61,814 shares worth about $2.76 million.
• Insider selling was also reported, with EVP Jay A. Bys selling 11,907 shares at $61.68 each in a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• California Resources reported Q1 earnings of $0.88 per share, matching estimates, but revenue came in far below expectations at $119 million, and the company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share.

Aventail Capital Group LP lessened its holdings in shares of California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) by 41.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,814 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 44,059 shares during the quarter. Aventail Capital Group LP owned approximately 0.07% of California Resources worth $2,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in California Resources by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in California Resources by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,440 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in California Resources by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.68, for a total transaction of $734,423.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 171,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,567,696.08. This represents a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

California Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRC opened at $55.35 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $62.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.94. California Resources Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.24 and a fifty-two week high of $71.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.64 and a beta of 0.90. 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 (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88. California Resources had a positive return on equity of 10.12% and a negative net margin of 16.10%.The firm had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $947.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 87.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that California Resources Corporation will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. California Resources's dividend payout ratio is -31.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CRC shares. UBS Group set a $78.00 target price on California Resources and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research lowered California Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 25th. Mizuho boosted their target price on California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup upgraded California Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.50.

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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