California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.40.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CRC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of California Resources from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of California Resources from $56.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of California Resources from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of California Resources from a “d” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, June 5th.

California Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CRC stock opened at $55.87 on Friday. California Resources has a one year low of $34.02 and a one year high of $56.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 1.18.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.33). California Resources had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 26.50%. The company had revenue of $591.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $535.59 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from California Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 9.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the second quarter worth $29,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the first quarter worth $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the first quarter worth $29,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 69.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,454 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production 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.