California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Stock Passes Below 50 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.97 and traded as low as $51.68. California Resources shares last traded at $52.5250, with a volume of 543,733 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on CRC shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of California Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of California Resources and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of California Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.70.

California Resources Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.10 and a beta of 0.92.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.88. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $947.50 million. California Resources had a positive return on equity of 10.12% and a negative net margin of 16.10%.The company’s revenue was down 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that California Resources Corporation will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is -31.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California Resources news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.68, for a total value of $734,423.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 171,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,696.08. The trade was a 6.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp bought a new stake in California Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,808,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in California Resources by 394.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 25,017 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 19,955 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 2,349.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 234,797 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,892,000 after acquiring an additional 225,210 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 107.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 14,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of California Resources by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,471,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $65,772,000 after acquiring an additional 499,845 shares during the period. 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.