Analysts Set California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) Target Price at $70.50

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.50.

CRC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on California Resources from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 price objective on California Resources in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen raised California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total value of $1,515,010.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,416,885.32. This trade represents a 21.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total value of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 76,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,944,259.95. This trade represents a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of California Resources by 363.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 561 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of California Resources by 82.5% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. 97.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Resources Stock Up 0.9%

CRC stock opened at $66.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.76. California Resources has a fifty-two week low of $32.47 and a fifty-two week high of $71.98.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $789.67 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 9.89%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.71%.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation (NYSE: CRC) is an independent exploration and production company focused exclusively on developing oil and natural gas assets in California. Headquartered in Newport Beach, the company engages in hydraulic fracturing, well completions, reservoir management and enhanced recovery operations to produce crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CRC’s operations are concentrated in three core regions: the Los Angeles Basin, the Ventura Basin and the San Joaquin Basin.