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

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.29.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of California Resources from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a research report on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on California Resources in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Resources news, CEO Francisco Leon sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.18, for a total value of $368,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 166,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,437.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other California Resources news, CEO Francisco Leon sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.18, for a total transaction of $368,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 166,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,437.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christian S. Kendall purchased 20,895 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $47.97 per share, for a total transaction of $1,002,333.15. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 24,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,180,062. The trade was a 500.00 % 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in California Resources by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,100,283 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $446,326,000 after acquiring an additional 344,043 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 4.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,576,306 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $190,328,000 after purchasing an additional 165,629 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 18.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,631,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $86,825,000 after purchasing an additional 250,367 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 10.7% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,078,123 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $57,378,000 after purchasing an additional 104,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of California Resources by 2,615.2% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 843,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,865,000 after purchasing an additional 811,963 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Price Performance

CRC stock opened at $54.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $50.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.10. California Resources has a 52-week low of $43.09 and a 52-week high of $57.88.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.36). California Resources had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 7.61%. The company had revenue of $514.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $477.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that California Resources will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.3875 dividend. This is an increase from California Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.41%.

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.