Private Management Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in California Resources Corporation $CRC

Private Management Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 877,117 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 8,967 shares during the period. California Resources makes up approximately 1.4% of Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in California Resources were worth $46,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRC. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 89.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 46,532 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 21,923 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 657,628 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,916,000 after buying an additional 181,833 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in California Resources by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 50,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,233,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in California Resources by 17.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,870 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 4,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Price Performance

CRC opened at $61.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.12. California Resources Corporation has a 1 year low of $30.97 and a 1 year high of $66.35.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $924.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $789.67 million. California Resources had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that California Resources Corporation will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on CRC shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of California Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Pickering Energy Partners lowered shares of California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of California Resources from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.90.

Insider Activity

In other California Resources news, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,182,916.77. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total transaction of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 76,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,944,259.95. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.