Citigroup Cuts ChampionX (NASDAQ:CHX) Price Target to $40.00

ChampionX (NASDAQ:CHX) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

ChampionX Stock Performance

Shares of ChampionX stock opened at $30.64 on Thursday. ChampionX has a 1 year low of $25.46 and a 1 year high of $39.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.21 and its 200 day moving average is $31.66. The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 2.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

ChampionX (NASDAQ:CHX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). ChampionX had a return on equity of 19.74% and a net margin of 8.59%. The firm had revenue of $906.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $916.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ChampionX will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ChampionX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.095 per share. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. ChampionX’s payout ratio is currently 23.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Deric D. Bryant sold 49,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.06, for a total transaction of $1,482,048.18. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 337,409 shares in the company, valued at $10,142,514.54. This represents a 12.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ChampionX

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of ChampionX in the first quarter worth $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in ChampionX by 442.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of ChampionX during the 2nd quarter valued at about $68,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of ChampionX by 63.7% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of ChampionX by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the period. 98.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ChampionX

ChampionX Corporation provides chemistry solutions, artificial lift systems, and engineered equipment and technologies to oil and gas companies worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production Chemical Technologies, Production & Automation Technologies, Drilling Technologies, and Reservoir Chemical Technologies.