California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating and a $68.00 price objective on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on CRC. Barclays set a $74.00 price target on shares of California Resources and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of California Resources from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of California Resources from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.92.

California Resources Price Performance

CRC stock opened at $56.71 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of -41.70 and a beta of 0.90. California Resources has a 12-month low of $43.24 and a 12-month high of $71.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.55.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.36 by ($0.37). California Resources had a positive return on equity of 9.82% and a negative net margin of 3.79%.The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $960.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. California Resources’s revenue was up 33.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -119.12%.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, EVP Jay Bys sold 11,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $642,978.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 135,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,322,940. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 35,721 shares of company stock worth $1,928,934 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRC. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in California Resources in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in California Resources by 363.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of California Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Company Profile

California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC) is an energy company focused on developing and producing oil and natural gas resources in California. Its operations include exploration, drilling, production, processing and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, primarily for customers in the California market.

The company’s assets are located in several of California’s major petroleum-producing regions, including the San Joaquin, Los Angeles and Sacramento basins. California Resources also manages related infrastructure and mineral interests associated with its production operations.

In addition to conventional energy production, California Resources has pursued carbon management opportunities through its Carbon TerraVault platform.