Short Interest in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Declines By 5.9%

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,460,000 shares, a drop of 5.9% from the August 15th total of 7,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 462,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 16.1 days. Approximately 16.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of CLB opened at $18.30 on Thursday. Core Laboratories has a 12 month low of $13.82 and a 12 month high of $25.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $858.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.37.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $130.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.85 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Core Laboratories’s payout ratio is 4.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLB. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Core Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 1,178.6% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 19.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CLB. StockNews.com cut Core Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America cut their target price on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Core Laboratories has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

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.