Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 90,466 Shares of California Resources Corporation $CRC

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) by 23.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 468,669 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,466 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.56% of California Resources worth $24,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in California Resources by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 56,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,014,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534 shares during the last quarter. Searle & CO. bought a new stake in shares of California Resources during the third quarter worth $213,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of California Resources during the third quarter worth $447,000. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of California Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,291,000. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRC opened at $55.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. California Resources Corporation has a twelve month low of $30.97 and a twelve month high of $58.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on California Resources from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 target price on shares of California Resources in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $65.00 price target on shares of California Resources and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.90.

California Resources Profile

California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC) is an independent exploration and production company focused exclusively on developing oil and natural gas assets in California. Headquartered in Newport Beach, the company engages in hydraulic fracturing, well completions, reservoir management and enhanced recovery operations to produce crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CRC’s operations are concentrated in three core regions: the Los Angeles Basin, the Ventura Basin and the San Joaquin Basin.