California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in ChampionX Co. (NASDAQ:CHX)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of ChampionX Co. (NASDAQ:CHX) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 377,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,453 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.19% of ChampionX worth $11,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in ChampionX by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in ChampionX during the fourth quarter worth $114,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in ChampionX by 16.9% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ChampionX in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of ChampionX during the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at ChampionX

In other news, insider William Jr. O’dell sold 27,178 shares of ChampionX stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $978,408.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,748 shares in the company, valued at $2,078,928. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ChampionX Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ CHX opened at $33.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $34.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.14. ChampionX Co. has a 12-month low of $24.98 and a 12-month high of $39.95. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.44.

ChampionX (NASDAQ:CHX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $922.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $922.13 million. ChampionX had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 9.74%. Equities analysts anticipate that ChampionX Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ChampionX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were paid a $0.095 dividend. This is an increase from ChampionX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. ChampionX’s payout ratio is presently 20.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of ChampionX from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on ChampionX from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on ChampionX from $39.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.33.

About ChampionX

ChampionX Corporation provides chemistry solutions, artificial lift systems, and engineered equipment and technologies to oil and gas companies worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production Chemical Technologies, Production & Automation Technologies, Drilling Technologies, and Reservoir Chemical Technologies.