Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Price Target Raised to $18.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $17.00 to $18.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Core Laboratories from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $18.75.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

CLB opened at $16.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $793.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.34 and a 200 day moving average of $17.53. Core Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $13.82 and a fifty-two week high of $27.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $129.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.47 million. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 15.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Core Laboratories’s payout ratio is 4.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 328,435 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,886,000 after buying an additional 93,354 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Core Laboratories by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 436,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,479,000 after purchasing an additional 88,013 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Core Laboratories by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 27,524 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in Core Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,071,000. Finally, Toroso Investments LLC increased its position in Core Laboratories by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 38,348 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 2,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

Core Laboratories Company Profile

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.