Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on California Resources (NYSE:CRC)

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $64.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on CRC. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of California Resources in a research note on Monday, August 12th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of California Resources in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $57.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.50.

California Resources Price Performance

California Resources stock opened at $52.44 on Thursday. California Resources has a 52-week low of $43.09 and a 52-week high of $57.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.62 and a 200-day moving average of $50.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $514.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $477.07 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 7.61%. California Resources’s revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.3875 dividend. This is an increase from California Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.41%.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $530,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $916,953. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Francisco Leon sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.18, for a total value of $368,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 166,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,437.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $530,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $916,953. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 109,269 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,021,000 after acquiring an additional 19,485 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in California Resources by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 627,553 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,472,000 after buying an additional 206,607 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in California Resources by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 56,452 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in California Resources by 879.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 143,051 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,882,000 after buying an additional 128,445 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in California Resources by 497.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,945 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after buying an additional 25,767 shares during the period. 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.