Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 32,300 California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 32,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,766,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in California Resources by 179.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 420,946 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,127,000 after buying an additional 270,508 shares during the last quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 8.5% in the third quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 167,856 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,402,000 after purchasing an additional 13,104 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of California Resources in the third quarter worth about $1,824,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 38.1% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,616 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in shares of California Resources in the third quarter worth about $241,000. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of CRC opened at $53.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. California Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $37.21 and a 12 month high of $58.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 1.02.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.08). California Resources had a net margin of 20.14% and a return on equity of 17.57%. The business had revenue of $726.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $553.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that California Resources Co. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 6th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 5th. California Resources’s payout ratio is currently 16.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CRC shares. Barclays started coverage on California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America cut California Resources from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on California Resources from $69.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.43.

California Resources Company Profile

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