California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $947.50 million. California Resources had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 10.23%.

California Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CRC traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $70.21. 822,244 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 935,022. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.79. California Resources has a 52-week low of $35.04 and a 52-week high of $71.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.97.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. California Resources’s payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of California Resources from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Pickering Energy Partners downgraded California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen raised California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded California Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, California Resources presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.20.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total transaction of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 76,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,944,259.95. The trade was a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total transaction of $1,514,626.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,537 shares in the company, valued at $8,182,916.77. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,102,049 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $49,273,000 after purchasing an additional 32,460 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,313 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,616,761 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $72,285,000 after purchasing an additional 174,154 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 100,631 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,499,000 after purchasing an additional 54,041 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in California Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,008,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

About California Resources

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.