California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $57.00 to $55.00. The stock had previously closed at $39.17, but opened at $38.17. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. California Resources shares last traded at $38.71, with a volume of 95,620 shares trading hands.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Capital One Financial raised shares of California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on California Resources in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.08.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other news, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total transaction of $883,762.88. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of California Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in California Resources by 331.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $49.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.12.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $877.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $901.36 million. California Resources had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 12.16%. Research analysts predict that California Resources Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.3875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. California Resources’s payout ratio is 24.41%.

California Resources Company Profile

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.