California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $69.93 and last traded at $68.6530, with a volume of 157127 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.87.

CRC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of California Resources from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of California Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of California Resources from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other news, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 76,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,944,259.95. This represents a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $545,612.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 7,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $489,547.64. This trade represents a 52.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in California Resources by 6.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 529,814 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,181,806 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $186,968,000 after purchasing 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 fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,842,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $171,786,000 after purchasing an additional 491,751 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of California Resources by 5.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,006,430 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $159,882,000 after purchasing an additional 159,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 200.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,344,493 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $104,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,866 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 1.12. 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 $59.04 and a 200 day moving average of $52.10.

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

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. California Resources’s payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

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.