Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Stock

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Citigroup from $14.00 to $15.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential downside of 12.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com raised Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLB traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.11. The company had a trading volume of 65,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,345. The company has a market capitalization of $801.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.38. Core Laboratories has a 1 year low of $13.82 and a 1 year high of $25.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.85.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 5.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Core Laboratories will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 91.5% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 111,305 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 53,188 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 84,277 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 8,957 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 49,587 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 5,725 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Core Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $176,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Core Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $1,706,000. Institutional investors own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

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.