Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Price Target Raised to $18.00

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) had its price target upped by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.11% from the stock’s current price.

CLB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 20th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Core Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.75.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Core Laboratories stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.29. 114,650 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 463,395. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.66. Core Laboratories has a 52-week low of $13.82 and a 52-week high of $27.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $810.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.40.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company had revenue of $129.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.47 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,606,745 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,443,000 after acquiring an additional 240,989 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Core Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,495,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 754,407 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,323,000 after acquiring an additional 134,227 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Core Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,197,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D acquired a new position in shares of Core Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,502,000. 97.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Core Laboratories

Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs.