First Trust Advisors LP Increases Position in California Resources Corporation $CRC

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors increased its California Resources position by 15.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 238,476 shares valued at approximately $16.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 97.79% of CRC.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $73.09, despite some recent downgrades and target-price reductions.
• CRC reported quarterly EPS of $0.88, in line with estimates, but revenue fell 87% year over year to $119 million. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, equivalent to a 3.2% annualized yield.

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 238,476 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 31,576 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.27% of California Resources worth $16,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in California Resources by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,775,097 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $392,335,000 after acquiring an additional 529,814 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 632,170 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 14.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 491,751 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 200.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,564,866 shares during the period. Finally, Sourcerock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $91,370,000 after purchasing an additional 779,280 shares during the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other California Resources news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president owned 159,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,608,896. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of California Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (down from $78.00) on shares of California Resources in a report on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.09.

California Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CRC opened at $50.58 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.73 and a beta of 0.92. California Resources Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $43.24 and a fifty-two week high of $71.98. 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 (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.88. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $947.50 million. California Resources had a positive return on equity of 10.12% and a negative net margin of 16.10%.The company's revenue was down 87.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that California Resources Corporation will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. California Resources's payout ratio is presently -31.15%.

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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