Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Down 7.2% - Time to Sell?

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 7.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $10.91 and last traded at $10.88. 261,028 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 376,896 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Citigroup upgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.50.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $566.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 16.24%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Core Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 173.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 2,688.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,426 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 2,339 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 843.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,284 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 2,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Core Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.81% of the company's stock.

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.