California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.2727.

CRC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of California Resources from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Stephens set a $85.00 price target on California Resources and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays set a $74.00 price objective on California Resources and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research raised California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jay Bys sold 11,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $642,978.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 147,517 shares in the company, valued at $7,965,918. This trade represents a 7.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRC. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,683 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of California Resources by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,440 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in California Resources by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in California Resources by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,053 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Stock Performance

CRC opened at $54.23 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.58 and its 200 day moving average is $58.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.87 and a beta of 0.90. California Resources has a 12-month low of $43.24 and a 12-month high of $71.98.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by ($0.37). California Resources had a negative net margin of 3.79% and a positive return on equity of 9.82%. The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently -119.12%.

About California Resources

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.