Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Stock Price

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $67.00 to $72.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CRC. TD Cowen upgraded California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of California Resources from $56.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners cut California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.40.

California Resources Trading Up 2.6%

CRC opened at $63.08 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. California Resources has a 52 week low of $30.97 and a 52 week high of $66.35. The stock has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.80 and a 200-day moving average of $50.92.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $789.67 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.California Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.71%.

Insider Activity

In other California Resources news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $545,612.44. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 7,684 shares in the company, valued at $489,547.64. The trade was a 52.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $1,515,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,416,885.32. This represents a 21.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646 over the last ninety days. 0.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of California Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 82.5% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in California Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. 97.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Company 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.