Analysts Set California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Target Price at $67.25

Shares of California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.08.

CRC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Capital One Financial raised California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on California Resources from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, 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.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of CRC opened at $40.89 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $49.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.06. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $38.02 and a fifty-two week high of $60.41.

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

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.3875 dividend. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. California Resources’s payout ratio is 24.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Resources 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,269.20. This trade represents a 34.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James N. Chapman bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.42 per share, for a total transaction of $78,840.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,601.90. This represents a 4.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in California Resources by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,345,789 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $484,953,000 after purchasing an additional 225,620 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of California Resources by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,818,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $353,800,000 after buying an additional 845,694 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of California Resources by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,449,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $181,021,000 after buying an additional 168,278 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of California Resources by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,327,712 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $120,785,000 after buying an additional 290,263 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of California Resources by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,605,779 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $83,344,000 after buying an additional 13,116 shares during the period. 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.