Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Trading Down 4% - What's Next?

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $19.06 and last traded at $19.06. Approximately 9,283 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 98% from the average daily volume of 413,298 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on CLB shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Core Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.00.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $909.89 million, a PE ratio of 29.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.63.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $134.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.16 million. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 15.84%. Core Laboratories's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. Core Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.15%.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories in the second quarter worth $36,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Core Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,636 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,885 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 12.8% in the 2nd 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.81% of the company's stock.

Core Laboratories Company Profile

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.