California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.90.

A number of brokerages recently commented on CRC. Mizuho increased their price target on California Resources from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on California Resources from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research raised California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen upgraded California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th.

California Resources Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of CRC stock opened at $61.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.12. California Resources has a 52-week low of $30.97 and a 52-week high of $66.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.81.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted 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). California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.The firm had revenue of $924.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $789.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. California Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $1,514,626.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,182,916.77. This represents a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,061,396.76. Following the sale, the director owned 76,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,944,259.95. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of California Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in California Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in California Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in California Resources during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.