Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $16.53, but opened at $17.84. Core Laboratories shares last traded at $17.40, with a volume of 190,932 shares.

The oil and gas company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $129.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.47 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 8.03%.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CLB. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Core Laboratories from $21.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in Core Laboratories by 17.6% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,606,745 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,443,000 after purchasing an additional 240,989 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 754,407 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,323,000 after buying an additional 134,227 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 1.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 707,868 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $16,996,000 after buying an additional 6,703 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 436,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,479,000 after acquiring an additional 88,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 328,435 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,886,000 after acquiring an additional 93,354 shares in the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Core Laboratories Stock Up 5.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $813.49 million, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

About Core Laboratories

Core Laboratories Inc provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock and reservoir fluid samples to enhance production and improve recovery of crude oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs.