Analysts Set California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Target Price at $65.50

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.40.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CRC. Stephens began coverage on California Resources in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on California Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th. Bank of America raised California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other California Resources news, CEO Francisco Leon sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,437.26. This trade represents a 4.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total value of $488,927.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,603.25. The trade was a 50.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,270 shares of company stock worth $1,387,778 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRC. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in 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 worth $44,865,000 after acquiring an additional 811,963 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in California Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,566,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in California Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,043,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in California Resources by 4.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $86,825,000 after acquiring an additional 250,367 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Resources Stock Performance

CRC stock opened at $58.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.98. 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 1 year low of $43.09 and a 1 year high of $60.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.15.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.13 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 194.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.3875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.41%.

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.