Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Stake Boosted by Exchange Capital Management Inc.

Exchange Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 68,138 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,024 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Core Laboratories were worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CLB. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,016 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,597,000 after buying an additional 56,187 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,053,204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $19,521,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 617,336 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,686,000 after buying an additional 16,503 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 288.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 62,042 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 443,621 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,679,000 after acquiring an additional 26,237 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Core Laboratories Stock Down 1.3 %

CLB opened at $15.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $745.95 million, a PE ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.74. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.09 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.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 5.99% and a return on equity of 16.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on CLB shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Core Laboratories from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

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.