Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $17.08, but opened at $17.84. Core Laboratories shares last traded at $18.51, with a volume of 15,426 shares traded.

The oil and gas company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.04. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 5.44%. The business had revenue of $134.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Core Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLB. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Core Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $36,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,351 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Core Laboratories by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,636 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.53 and a 200-day moving average of $18.97. The company has a market capitalization of $911.74 million, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.36.

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.