Zacks Research Downgrades California Resources (NYSE:CRC) to Hold

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CRC. Barclays raised their target price on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of California Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group set a $78.00 target price on shares of California Resources and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

California Resources Stock Down 1.3%

CRC stock opened at $61.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. California Resources has a fifty-two week low of $41.88 and a fifty-two week high of $71.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of -11.78 and a beta of 0.96.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88. The business had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $947.50 million. California Resources had a negative net margin of 16.10% and a positive return on equity of 10.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 87.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that California Resources will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In other news, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $1,514,626.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,182,916.77. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $545,612.44. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 7,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,547.64. This trade represents a 52.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 89.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 46,532 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 21,923 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 6.1% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 657,628 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,916,000 after purchasing an additional 181,833 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 50,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

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.