California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $62.71.

CRC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of California Resources from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock.

California Resources Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of California Resources stock opened at $51.12 on Monday. California Resources has a 12-month low of $43.30 and a 12-month high of $58.44. The company has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $49.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.59.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $454.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.21 million. California Resources had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 11.00%. California Resources’s quarterly revenue was down 55.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that California Resources will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 35.53%.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other news, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.10, for a total value of $1,779,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 104,939 shares in the company, valued at $5,047,565.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in California Resources by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 44,054 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,467,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of California Resources by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,109 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of California Resources by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 32,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of California Resources by 92.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of California Resources by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 56,452 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.