Mark Allen Mcfarland Sells 16,372 Shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Stock

Key Points

• Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares at an average of $64.83 for about $1.06M, cutting his position by 17.67% to 76,265 shares.
• California Resources declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 (annualized $1.62) with an ex-dividend/record date of March 13 and payment on March 20, implying a ~2.5% yield.
• CRC missed Q results on EPS ($0.47 vs $0.49 estimate) but beat on revenue at $924M, and analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” with a $66.90 target amid several price-target increases.

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 76,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,944,259.95. This trade represents a 17.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

California Resources Price Performance

NYSE:CRC traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $64.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,292,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 860,996. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.37. California Resources Corporation has a one year low of $30.97 and a one year high of $66.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.11.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $789.67 million. California Resources had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that California Resources Corporation will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. California Resources's payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on California Resources from $56.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research raised California Resources from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on California Resources from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen raised California Resources to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of California Resources from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in California Resources by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,181,806 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $186,968,000 after buying an additional 632,170 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position 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 valued at $171,786,000 after acquiring an additional 491,751 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,006,430 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $159,882,000 after purchasing an additional 159,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 1,564,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.79% 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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