California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,220,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the November 30th total of 2,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 688,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Approximately 4.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at California Resources

In related news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total transaction of $488,927.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,603.25. This trade represents a 50.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total value of $883,762.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,940 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,707,269.20. The trade was a 34.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in California Resources by 61.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 974 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of California Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in California Resources by 29.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in California Resources by 9.4% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,224 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in California Resources in the third quarter valued at $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CRC has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on California Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Stephens began coverage on shares of California Resources in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Capital One Financial raised California Resources to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on California Resources from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, California Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.09.

California Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CRC opened at $50.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. California Resources has a 12 month low of $43.09 and a 12 month high of $60.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.34.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.62. California Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $973.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 194.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.3875 per share. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.41%.

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.