Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Stock Price Down 4% – Time to Sell?

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) shares traded down 4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.06 and last traded at $19.06. 9,283 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average session volume of 413,298 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Core Laboratories from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Core Laboratories Trading Down 2.9 %

The company has a market cap of $905.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 2.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 15.84%. The business had revenue of $134.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.15%.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLB. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 446.8% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,460,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,508,000 after purchasing an additional 3,644,963 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Core Laboratories by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,286,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $66,682,000 after acquiring an additional 195,756 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Core Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,531,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Core Laboratories by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 990,267 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,350,000 after acquiring an additional 161,278 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 9.0% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,021,121 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,921,000 after purchasing an additional 84,022 shares in the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Core Laboratories Company Profile

Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs.