California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Receives $73.09 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.5455.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded California Resources from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on California Resources from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut California Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Stephens set a $85.00 target price on California Resources and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of California Resources in a research report on Tuesday.

California Resources Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:CRC opened at $53.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.44 and a 200-day moving average of $58.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.20 and a beta of 0.93. California Resources has a twelve month low of $43.24 and a twelve month high of $71.98.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.36 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $960.20 million. California Resources had a positive return on equity of 9.82% and a negative net margin of 3.79%.California Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. California Resources’s payout ratio is currently -119.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total value of $642,978.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 147,517 shares in the company, valued at $7,965,918. The trade was a 7.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,721 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,380. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 363.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Resources in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of California Resources in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 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.