Man Group plc Acquires New Position in California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC)

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,806 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in California Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $841,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in California Resources by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 739,057 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $38,350,000 after purchasing an additional 14,240 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in California Resources by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 55,289 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,869,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in California Resources by 84.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,929 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,539,000 after purchasing an additional 22,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in California Resources by 518.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In other news, Director James N. Chapman acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.42 per share, for a total transaction of $78,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,712,601.90. The trade was a 4.83% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of California Resources from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of California Resources from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of California Resources from $68.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of California Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.36.

California Resources Price Performance

California Resources stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $42.52. 225,582 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 867,215. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.69, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. California Resources Co. has a 12-month low of $30.97 and a 12-month high of $60.41.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $912.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.14 million. California Resources had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 12.16%. California Resources's revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that California Resources Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.3875 per share. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. California Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.13%.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.