The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 579 Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,054 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Core Laboratories were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CLB. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in Core Laboratories by 20.4% during the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 10,825,657 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $184,902,000 after buying an additional 1,837,258 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,392,034 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $92,096,000 after acquiring an additional 27,701 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,286,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $66,682,000 after purchasing an additional 195,756 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,606,745 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,443,000 after purchasing an additional 240,989 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 729,760 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,807,000 after purchasing an additional 9,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CLB. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America cut their price target on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Core Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CLB opened at $18.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $862.73 million, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.69 and its 200-day moving average is $18.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.82 and a 1-year high of $25.13.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 5.44%. The firm had revenue of $130.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.55%.

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.