California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Increases Dividend to $0.39 Per Share

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, August 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of 0.3875 per share by the oil and gas producer on Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from California Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31.

California Resources has a payout ratio of 30.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect California Resources to earn $6.24 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.55 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.8%.

California Resources Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:CRC opened at $52.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $50.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.43. California Resources has a 52 week low of $43.09 and a 52 week high of $58.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.41.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.36). California Resources had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 11.34%. The firm had revenue of $514.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $477.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that California Resources will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CRC shares. Bank of America upgraded California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $57.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Citigroup started coverage on California Resources in a report on Friday, July 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $63.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on California Resources from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on California Resources from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of California Resources in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, California Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.75.

Insider Transactions at California Resources

In other news, Director Christian S. Kendall bought 20,895 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $47.97 per share, with a total value of $1,002,333.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,180,062. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About California Resources

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.