California Resources (NYSE:CRC) EVP Christopher Gould Sells 24,347 Shares of Stock

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) EVP Christopher Gould sold 24,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total value of $1,514,626.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,182,916.77. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

California Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CRC traded down $0.58 on Friday, reaching $61.54. 293,981 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 879,981. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.73. California Resources Corporation has a 52 week low of $30.97 and a 52 week high of $66.35.

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

California Resources Announces Dividend

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 2.6%. California Resources’s payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CRC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered California Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 price target on shares of California Resources in a research report on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen raised shares of California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in California Resources by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,683 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of California Resources by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of California Resources by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in California Resources by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.