California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com lowered shares of California Resources (NYSE:CRC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

CRC has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on California Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of California Resources from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group began coverage on California Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens started coverage on California Resources in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.50.

California Resources Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CRC traded up $0.36 on Friday, reaching $56.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 757,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,654. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.78. California Resources has a 12-month low of $43.09 and a 12-month high of $60.41.

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. California Resources had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 194.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.3875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total transaction of $488,927.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,531 shares in the company, valued at $475,603.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other California Resources news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total transaction of $488,927.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,603.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 10,000 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $530,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,301 shares in the company, valued at $916,953. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,270 shares of company stock worth $1,387,778 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in California Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $902,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in California Resources by 7.9% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 151,098 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,928,000 after acquiring an additional 11,106 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in California Resources in the third quarter worth $499,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in California Resources by 12.7% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 121,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,396,000 after acquiring an additional 13,700 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of California Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $579,000. 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.