Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Short Interest Update

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,860,000 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the August 31st total of 7,460,000 shares. Currently, 14.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 451,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 15.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Core Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Core Laboratories by 1,178.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in 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 worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Core Laboratories by 19.7% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Core Laboratories by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,577 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Core Laboratories Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of CLB traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.21. 302,251 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 442,845. Core Laboratories has a 1 year low of $13.82 and a 1 year high of $25.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.57 and its 200-day moving average is $18.73. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $900.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.37.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last released 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 return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firm had revenue of $130.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Core Laboratories’s payout ratio is 4.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on CLB shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com lowered Core Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Core Laboratories Company Profile

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.