California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Price Target Raised to $72.00

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $56.00 to $72.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

CRC has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research upgraded California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of California Resources from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $63.00 target price on shares of California Resources and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 price target on shares of California Resources in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, California Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.90.

California Resources Trading Up 2.2%

CRC stock opened at $64.97 on Wednesday. California Resources has a 12-month low of $30.97 and a 12-month high of $65.68. The business’s 50-day moving average is $52.71 and its 200 day moving average is $50.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92 and a beta of 1.12.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $789.67 million. California Resources had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 10.23%. California Resources’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California Resources news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total value of $545,612.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,684 shares in the company, valued at $489,547.64. This represents a 52.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRC. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in California Resources during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in California Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in California Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in California Resources during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Company Profile

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.