California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Short Interest Down 10.4% in June

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,480,000 shares, a decrease of 10.4% from the May 31st total of 8,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 888,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.4 days. Currently, 12.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of California Resources in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of California Resources from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, California Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 37,000 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.10, for a total transaction of $1,779,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 104,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,047,565.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in California Resources by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 14,395 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $787,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in California Resources by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 44,054 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,467,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in California Resources by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,109 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in California Resources by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,991 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 92.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Resources Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CRC traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.91. 362,168 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 944,738. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.98. California Resources has a 52 week low of $43.30 and a 52 week high of $58.44.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.17. California Resources had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $454.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $490.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 55.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that California Resources will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. California Resources’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

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.