California Resources Co. (CRC) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 10th

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.3875 per share by the oil and gas producer on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th.

California Resources has raised its dividend by an average of 101.7% per year over the last three years. California Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 36.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect California Resources to earn $4.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.55 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.0%.

California Resources Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CRC opened at $41.63 on Friday. California Resources has a 52 week low of $38.02 and a 52 week high of $60.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.05). California Resources had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The company had revenue of $877.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $901.36 million. On average, analysts forecast that California Resources will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CRC. Capital One Financial upgraded shares of California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of California Resources in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.08.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In related news, Director James N. Chapman acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.42 per share, with a total value of $78,840.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,601.90. This trade represents a 4.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total transaction of $883,762.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,707,269.20. The trade was a 34.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.