California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) CEO Francisco Leon Sells 7,500 Shares

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) CEO Francisco Leon sold 7,500 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.18, for a total transaction of $368,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 166,357 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,437.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of CRC traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.16. 937,550 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 884,770. California Resources Co. has a one year low of $43.09 and a one year high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $50.61 and a 200-day moving average of $51.36.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.36). California Resources had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 7.61%. The business had revenue of $514.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $477.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that California Resources Co. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.3875 per share. This is a positive change from California Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. California Resources’s payout ratio is presently 44.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CRC. Bank of America raised shares of California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on California Resources from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on California Resources from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on California Resources in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Institutional Trading of California Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRC. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 2,615.2% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 843,011 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,865,000 after acquiring an additional 811,963 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of California Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,566,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of California Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,713,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of California Resources by 4.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,100,283 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $446,326,000 after acquiring an additional 344,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in California Resources by 7,345.1% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 340,168 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $18,743,000 after purchasing an additional 335,599 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.