Insider Selling: California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) EVP Sells 16,016 Shares of Stock

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total transaction of $883,762.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,269.20. This trade represents a 34.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

California Resources Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CRC stock opened at $54.92 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. California Resources Co. has a twelve month low of $43.09 and a twelve month high of $60.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $55.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.13 million. California Resources had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 12.16%. California Resources’s revenue was up 194.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that California Resources Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.3875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Stephens assumed coverage on California Resources in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of California Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, California Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRC. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 510,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,163,000 after acquiring an additional 78,200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in California Resources by 1.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in shares of California Resources by 15.4% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of California Resources by 20.7% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,317 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources in the second quarter valued at $729,000. 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.