California Resources (NYSE:CRC) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $66.39 and last traded at $66.2470, with a volume of 229009 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on California Resources from $51.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Pickering Energy Partners lowered California Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $70.00 target price on California Resources in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.80.

California Resources Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $56.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 1.11.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $924.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $789.67 million. California Resources had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 10.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that California Resources Corporation will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. California Resources’s payout ratio is 39.71%.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In related news, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total value of $1,515,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 82,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,416,885.32. This trade represents a 21.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 16,372 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total value of $1,061,396.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 76,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,944,259.95. This trade represents a 17.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock worth $4,636,646. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On California Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in California Resources by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,775,097 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $392,335,000 after buying an additional 529,814 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in California Resources by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,181,806 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $186,968,000 after buying an additional 632,170 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in California Resources by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,842,223 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $171,786,000 after acquiring an additional 491,751 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in California Resources by 5.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,006,430 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $159,882,000 after acquiring an additional 159,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in California Resources by 200.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,344,493 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $104,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,866 shares during the period. 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.