Empowered Funds LLC Trims Stock Position in California Resources Corporation $CRC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC cut its California Resources stake by 30.4% in the first quarter, selling 30,600 shares and retaining 70,031 shares valued at approximately $4.85 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.79% of CRC.
• CRC reported quarterly EPS of $0.88, in line with estimates, but revenue fell 87% year over year to $119 million. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, representing a 3.1% annualized yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $73.09 price target versus the stock’s reported $52.54 opening price.

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its stake in California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) by 30.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,031 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 30,600 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.08% of California Resources worth $4,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in California Resources by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,775,097 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $392,335,000 after acquiring an additional 529,814 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in California Resources by 17.8% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 632,170 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $171,786,000 after purchasing an additional 491,751 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $104,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC increased its position in shares of California Resources by 63.8% during the second quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 2,000,649 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $91,370,000 after purchasing an additional 779,280 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of CRC opened at $52.54 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. California Resources Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.24 and a fifty-two week high of $71.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.10 and a beta of 0.93.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.88. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $947.50 million. California Resources had a positive return on equity of 10.12% and a negative net margin of 16.10%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that California Resources Corporation will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. California Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -31.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRC has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stephens set a $85.00 price target on California Resources and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on California Resources from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.09.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $642,978.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 159,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,608,896. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

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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