California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Price Target Raised to $72.00

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $67.00 to $72.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CRC. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on California Resources from $56.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research upgraded California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on California Resources from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.80.

California Resources Price Performance

California Resources stock opened at $64.24 on Monday. California Resources has a 12-month low of $30.97 and a 12-month high of $66.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $789.67 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.71%.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $545,612.44. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,684 shares in the company, valued at $489,547.64. This represents a 52.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total value of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 76,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,944,259.95. This trade represents a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in California Resources by 363.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of California Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,102,049 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,273,000 after purchasing an additional 32,460 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,313 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in California Resources by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,616,761 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $72,285,000 after purchasing an additional 174,154 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Company Profile

California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC) is an independent exploration and production company focused exclusively on developing oil and natural gas assets in California. Headquartered in Newport Beach, the company engages in hydraulic fracturing, well completions, reservoir management and enhanced recovery operations to produce crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CRC’s operations are concentrated in three core regions: the Los Angeles Basin, the Ventura Basin and the San Joaquin Basin.