JPMorgan Chase & Co. Initiates Coverage on California Resources (NYSE:CRC)

Investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 24.60% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CRC. Barclays raised their target price on California Resources from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Capital One Financial upgraded shares of California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stephens started coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.09.

California Resources Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of California Resources stock opened at $50.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. California Resources has a 12-month low of $43.09 and a 12-month high of $60.41. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.10.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.62. California Resources had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $973.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. California Resources’s quarterly revenue was up 194.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In related news, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total value of $883,762.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,269.20. This trade represents a 34.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total transaction of $488,927.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,603.25. This represents a 50.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CRC. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in California Resources by 2,615.2% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 843,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,865,000 after purchasing an additional 811,963 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of California Resources in the second quarter worth about $28,566,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of California Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,043,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of California Resources by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,631,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $86,825,000 after acquiring an additional 250,367 shares during the period. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in California Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,820,000. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About California Resources

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.