Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) PT Lowered to $16.00

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) had its target price trimmed by Bank of America from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on CLB. StockNews.com upgraded Core Laboratories from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Core Laboratories from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Core Laboratories Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CLB stock opened at $17.40 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.93. Core Laboratories has a 1-year low of $13.82 and a 1-year high of $27.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $815.36 million, a PE ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 2.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $128.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.80 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 8.03%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLB. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Core Laboratories by 37.8% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,927,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $184,311,000 after buying an additional 2,173,250 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 44.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,848,741 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $42,983,000 after acquiring an additional 568,196 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 167.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 902,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $19,903,000 after acquiring an additional 565,344 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 108.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 893,278 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $20,769,000 after acquiring an additional 464,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 5.1% during the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 8,198,544 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $259,320,000 after acquiring an additional 394,237 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Core Laboratories

Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs.