Short Interest in California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Expands By 29.3%

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,200,000 shares, an increase of 29.3% from the March 15th total of 5,570,000 shares. Approximately 12.5% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 978,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.4 days.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in California Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,713,000. Cim LLC bought a new stake in California Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $494,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in California Resources by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 40,020 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in California Resources by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 44,321 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,423,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in California Resources by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 124,455 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,805,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CRC shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays started coverage on California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America cut California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on California Resources from $69.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Resources has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.43.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of CRC traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $55.05. 522,407 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 941,701. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $53.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.70. California Resources has a 12 month low of $37.21 and a 12 month high of $58.44.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $726.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $553.47 million. California Resources had a net margin of 20.14% and a return on equity of 17.57%. The business's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect that California Resources will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. California Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.06%.

California Resources Company Profile

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.