California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.27.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on California Resources from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded California Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on California Resources from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on California Resources from $64.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th.

California Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CRC stock opened at $47.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.74. California Resources has a fifty-two week low of $30.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $43.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.58. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.16.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $912.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.14 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 13.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.3875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRC. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in California Resources by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,818,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $353,800,000 after acquiring an additional 845,694 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in California Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,254,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in California Resources by 255.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 677,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,772,000 after acquiring an additional 486,650 shares in the last quarter. Palo Duro Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in California Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,752,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in California Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $14,456,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

About California Resources

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.