California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Price Target Raised to $76.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $76.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CRC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of California Resources from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 price target on California Resources in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of California Resources from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on California Resources from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, California Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.80.

California Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CRC opened at $63.97 on Tuesday. California Resources has a 1-year low of $30.97 and a 1-year high of $66.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.02. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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). California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.The company had revenue of $924.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $789.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. California Resources’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. California Resources’s payout ratio is presently 39.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,416,885.32. The trade was a 21.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total value of $1,514,626.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 131,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,182,916.77. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 363.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in California Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,102,049 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $49,273,000 after acquiring an additional 32,460 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in California Resources by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,313 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in California Resources by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,616,761 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $72,285,000 after buying an additional 174,154 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.