Empyrean Capital Partners LP Takes Position in California Resources Corporation $CRC

Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 48,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,323,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP owned 0.05% of California Resources at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in California Resources by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,775,097 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $392,335,000 after purchasing an additional 529,814 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 worth $186,968,000 after purchasing an additional 632,170 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,842,223 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $171,786,000 after buying an additional 491,751 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 200.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,344,493 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $104,822,000 after buying an additional 1,564,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $91,370,000 after buying an additional 779,280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company's stock.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRC opened at $50.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of -9.77 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.31. California Resources Corporation has a twelve month low of $43.24 and a twelve month high of $71.98.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $947.50 million. California Resources had a negative net margin of 16.10% and a positive return on equity of 10.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 87.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that California Resources Corporation will post 4.02 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. California Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently -31.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CRC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of California Resources from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of California Resources from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price (down from $78.00) on shares of California Resources in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Stephens set a $85.00 price target on shares of California Resources and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of California Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.09.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 159,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,608,896. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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