Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CLB. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Core Laboratories from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $21.83.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

CLB stock opened at $20.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.54. Core Laboratories has a 52-week low of $13.19 and a 52-week high of $34.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $936.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.98 and a beta of 2.65.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 3.97%. The company had revenue of $127.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $130.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.76%.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in Core Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $1,980,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,945 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 39,192 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,240,000 after buying an additional 14,354 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 9.4% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 68,839 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,931 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in Core Laboratories by 14.0% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 39,895 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 4,909 shares during the last quarter. 97.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Core Laboratories

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Core Laboratories NV engages in the provision of proprietary and patented reservoir description, production enhancement, and reservoir management services to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the Reservoir Description segment and Production Enhancement segment. The Reservoir Description segment encompasses the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock, fluid, and gas samples and provides analytical and field services to characterize properties of crude oil and petroleum products.