California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CRC. Zacks Research lowered shares of California Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.50.

California Resources Price Performance

NYSE:CRC opened at $59.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of -11.39 and a beta of 0.96. California Resources has a 12 month low of $42.20 and a 12 month high of $71.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.82.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88. California Resources had a negative net margin of 16.10% and a positive return on equity of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $947.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. California Resources’s quarterly revenue was down 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In related news, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $1,515,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,416,885.32. The trade was a 21.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $545,612.44. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,547.64. This trade represents a 52.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CRC. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 200.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,344,493 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $104,822,000 after buying an additional 1,564,866 shares during the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 1,263.4% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $71,121,000 after buying an additional 1,474,037 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in California Resources in the first quarter valued at approximately $62,698,000. Sourcerock Group LLC increased its stake in California Resources by 63.8% in the second quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 2,000,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $91,370,000 after purchasing an additional 779,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in California Resources by 155.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,062,553 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,527,000 after purchasing an additional 647,190 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.