UBS Group AG Purchases 499,845 Shares of California Resources Corporation $CRC

Key Points

• UBS increased its stake in California Resources by 51.5% in Q4, buying 499,845 shares to hold 1,471,090 shares (about 1.76% of the company) valued at roughly $65.77 million.
• Analysts are broadly bullish—TD Cowen gave a "strong-buy," Wells Fargo raised its target to $76 (overweight), and UBS raised its objective to $82 (buy); the consensus rating is "Buy" with an average target of $71.20.
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 72,283 shares in the past 90 days (insiders now own 0.53%) while institutional ownership stands at 97.79%; the company also pays a $0.405 quarterly dividend (annual $1.62, ~2.3% yield).

UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) by 51.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,471,090 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 499,845 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned about 1.76% of California Resources worth $65,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRC. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in California Resources by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in California Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in California Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in California Resources by 328.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 780 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in California Resources by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of California Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Pickering Energy Partners lowered shares of California Resources from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on California Resources from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $71.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In other news, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total value of $1,514,626.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 131,537 shares in the company, valued at $8,182,916.77. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total value of $1,061,396.76. Following the sale, the director directly owned 76,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,944,259.95. This trade represents a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646 over the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

California Resources Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:CRC opened at $69.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 0.96. California Resources Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.87 and a 1-year high of $71.98. The company's fifty day moving average price is $64.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $924.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $789.67 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.The firm's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that California Resources Corporation will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. California Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.