Royce & Associates LP Acquires 12,032 Shares of California Resources Corporation $CRC

Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in California Resources Corporation (NYSE:CRC) by 56.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,032 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in California Resources were worth $1,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CRC. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of California Resources by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of California Resources by 328.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 780 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of California Resources by 242.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,476 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of California Resources by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of California Resources from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of California Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Citigroup upgraded shares of California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $74.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of California Resources from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.50.

Insider Activity at California Resources

In other news, COO Omar Hayat sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.87, for a total transaction of $1,515,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,416,885.32. This trade represents a 21.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.71, for a total transaction of $545,612.44. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $489,547.64. This represents a 52.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,283 shares of company stock valued at $4,636,646. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CRC stock opened at $59.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.39 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $55.82. California Resources Corporation has a 52 week low of $42.20 and a 52 week high of $71.98.

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

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -31.15%.

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.