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

Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $19.43, but opened at $18.76. Core Laboratories shares last traded at $18.77, with a volume of 21,196 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Core Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.00.

Core Laboratories Trading Down 1.3 %

The firm's 50-day moving average is $18.53 and its 200-day moving average is $18.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $899.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.36.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The oil and gas company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.44% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business had revenue of $134.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Core Laboratories's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Core Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 10,825,657 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $184,902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,258 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,392,034 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $92,096,000 after acquiring an additional 27,701 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 446.8% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,460,720 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $90,508,000 after acquiring an additional 3,644,963 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,286,438 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $66,682,000 after acquiring an additional 195,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 729,760 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $14,807,000 after purchasing an additional 9,468 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.