California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.40.

CRC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of California Resources from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen increased their target price on California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stephens initiated 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on California Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total value of $883,762.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,269.20. This represents a 34.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $475,603.25. This trade represents a 50.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CRC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in California Resources by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,224 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 61.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 974 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 1.3% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 32,300 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in California Resources by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,910 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in California Resources by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 20,406 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,071,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of CRC stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $50.98. 825,229 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 826,283. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.07. California Resources has a fifty-two week low of $43.09 and a fifty-two week high of $60.41.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue was up 194.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that California Resources will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.3875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. California Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.41%.

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.