California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Price Target Raised to $74.00 at Citigroup

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) had its price objective boosted by Citigroup from $67.00 to $74.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.22% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 target price on California Resources in a report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on California Resources from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on California Resources from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of California Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners cut shares of California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, California Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.50.

California Resources Trading Up 0.2%

CRC stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $69.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 837,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 988,533. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.12. California Resources has a 1 year low of $30.97 and a 1 year high of $69.93.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total value of $1,515,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 82,236 shares in the company, valued at $5,416,885.32. The trade was a 21.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total value of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 76,265 shares of the company’s stock, 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 a total of 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 89.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 46,532 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 21,923 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 6.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in California Resources by 38.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 657,628 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,916,000 after buying an additional 181,833 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of California Resources by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 50,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,870 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About California Resources

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.