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

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

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings cut California Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho lifted their target price on California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered California Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.50.

California Resources Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CRC opened at $58.45 on Monday. California Resources has a 12-month low of $43.24 and a 12-month high of $71.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.24 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In related news, EVP Jay A. Bys sold 11,907 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.68, for a total value of $734,423.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 171,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,696.08. This trade represents a 6.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position 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 period. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in California Resources by 1,263.4% during the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,590,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $71,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,037 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in California Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $62,698,000. Sourcerock Group LLC boosted its holdings in California Resources by 63.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 2,000,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $91,370,000 after acquiring an additional 779,280 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in California Resources by 155.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,062,553 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,527,000 after acquiring an additional 647,190 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.