California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on California Resources from $56.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Pickering Energy Partners lowered California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. 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 research report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of California Resources from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.90.

California Resources Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:CRC opened at $64.97 on Friday. California Resources has a twelve month low of $30.97 and a twelve month high of $65.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.71 and a 200-day moving average of $50.35.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $789.67 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total value of $545,612.44. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 7,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,547.64. This trade represents a 52.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 200.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,564,866 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 1,263.4% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $71,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,037 shares in the last quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC boosted its stake in California Resources by 63.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 2,000,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $91,370,000 after purchasing an additional 779,280 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in California Resources by 155.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,062,553 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,527,000 after purchasing an additional 647,190 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.