California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Short Interest Down 10.4% in June

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,480,000 shares, a decrease of 10.4% from the May 31st total of 8,350,000 shares. Currently, 12.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 888,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In other California Resources news, Director Mark Allen Mcfarland sold 37,000 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.10, for a total transaction of $1,779,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 104,939 shares in the company, valued at $5,047,565.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On California Resources

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRC. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 432,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,814,000 after buying an additional 53,400 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its stake in California Resources by 179.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 420,946 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,127,000 after acquiring an additional 270,508 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,299,902 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $180,440,000 after purchasing an additional 190,588 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of California Resources during the third quarter worth about $1,824,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of California Resources by 38.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,616 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

California Resources Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CRC traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.91. The stock had a trading volume of 362,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,738. The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.85. California Resources has a 1-year low of $43.30 and a 1-year high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $454.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.21 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 11.34%. California Resources’s quarterly revenue was down 55.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that California Resources will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. California Resources’s payout ratio is 35.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CRC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of California Resources in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of California Resources from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $62.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on California Resources from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, California Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

California Resources Company Profile

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.