Short Interest in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Grows By 10.0%

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,590,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the March 15th total of 5,990,000 shares. Currently, 14.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 474,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 13.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in Core Laboratories during the first quarter worth $1,980,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 15.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,945 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 57.8% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 39,192 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 14,354 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 9.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 68,839 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 14.0% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 39,895 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 4,909 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Core Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE CLB opened at $17.25 on Wednesday. Core Laboratories has a one year low of $13.82 and a one year high of $27.94. The company has a market cap of $808.34 million, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 2.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $128.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $127.80 million. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 15.19%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.23%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CLB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.50.

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.