Short Interest in California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Declines By 19.8%

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,000,000 shares, a drop of 19.8% from the June 15th total of 7,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 896,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.7 days. Currently, 7.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

California Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CRC stock traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $52.99. The company had a trading volume of 556,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,251. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.69. California Resources has a one year low of $43.30 and a one year high of $58.44.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $454.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.21 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 11.34%. California Resources’s revenue for the quarter was down 55.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that California Resources will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.53%.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other California Resources news, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.10, for a total value of $1,779,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 104,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,047,565.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRC. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in California Resources by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 432,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $23,814,000 after acquiring an additional 53,400 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of California Resources by 179.8% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 420,946 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,127,000 after buying an additional 270,508 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in California Resources by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,299,902 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $180,440,000 after buying an additional 190,588 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in California Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $1,824,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in California Resources by 879.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 143,051 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,882,000 after acquiring an additional 128,445 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on California Resources from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of California Resources in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

California Resources Company Profile

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.