California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CRC. TD Cowen upgraded California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their price target on California Resources from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of California Resources from $56.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners cut shares of California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, California Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.90.

California Resources Price Performance

CRC opened at $64.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $53.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.48. California Resources has a twelve month low of $30.97 and a twelve month high of $66.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69 and a beta of 1.11.

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

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. California Resources’s payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Resources news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 7,684 shares in the company, valued at $489,547.64. The trade was a 52.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total transaction of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 76,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,944,259.95. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in California Resources by 89.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 46,532 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 21,923 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 6.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 38.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 657,628 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,916,000 after acquiring an additional 181,833 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 50,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,870 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783 shares during the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.