Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Down 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)’s stock price traded down 2.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $17.16 and last traded at $17.18. 189,113 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 409,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.63.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.48. The stock has a market cap of $791.11 million, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 2.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.67.

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

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Core Laboratories’s payout ratio is 6.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLB. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Core Laboratories by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 8.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 516,119 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,472,000 after purchasing an additional 38,726 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Core Laboratories by 12.8% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,776 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in Core Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $297,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Core Laboratories by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 25,584 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 5,718 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Core Laboratories

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.