Wall Street Zen Upgrades California Resources (NYSE:CRC) to “Hold”

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on California Resources from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on California Resources from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners cut shares of California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.50.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRC opened at $67.66 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.32. California Resources has a fifty-two week low of $30.97 and a fifty-two week high of $71.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.89.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $1,514,626.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,182,916.77. The trade was a 15.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total value of $545,612.44. Following the sale, the vice president owned 7,684 shares in the company, valued at $489,547.64. The trade was a 52.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 82.5% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of California Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in California Resources by 363.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in California Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in California Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Company Profile

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.