California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $57.00 to $55.00. The stock had previously closed at $39.17, but opened at $38.17. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. California Resources shares last traded at $38.71, with a volume of 95,620 shares.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CRC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. 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. TD Cowen lifted their price target on California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Capital One Financial raised California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In other California Resources news, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total value of $883,762.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,707,269.20. The trade was a 34.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRC. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in California Resources by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,818,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $353,800,000 after purchasing an additional 845,694 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of California Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $28,043,000. Palo Duro Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of California Resources in the 4th quarter worth $20,752,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew 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 worth $120,785,000 after buying an additional 290,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 285.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 318,593 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $16,532,000 after buying an additional 235,955 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.36, 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 current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.