California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CRC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on California Resources from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upgraded California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citigroup upgraded California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $78.00 price objective on California Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

California Resources Stock Down 1.3%

CRC stock opened at $61.25 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.60. The company has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.78 and a beta of 0.96. California Resources has a 12-month low of $41.88 and a 12-month high of $71.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.88. California Resources had a negative net margin of 16.10% and a positive return on equity of 10.12%. The business had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $947.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. California Resources’s revenue was down 87.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other California Resources news, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total transaction of $1,061,396.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 76,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,944,259.95. This trade represents a 17.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher D. Gould sold 24,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.21, for a total value of $1,514,626.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,182,916.77. This trade represents a 15.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646 in the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CRC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 89.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 46,532 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after purchasing an additional 21,923 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of California Resources by 6.1% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,663 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of California Resources by 38.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 657,628 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,916,000 after purchasing an additional 181,833 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 3.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 50,786 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of California Resources by 17.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,870 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783 shares during the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

California Resources Company Profile

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.