Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $14.61 and last traded at $14.94, with a volume of 42279 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CLB. StockNews.com raised Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Core Laboratories has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $683.21 million, a PE ratio of 22.11, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.66.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 5.99%. Analysts predict that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Core Laboratories’s payout ratio is 6.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,016 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,597,000 after buying an additional 56,187 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,053,204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,521,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 617,336 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,686,000 after purchasing an additional 16,503 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 288.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 62,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Core Laboratories by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 443,621 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,679,000 after purchasing an additional 26,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

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.