Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)’s share price gapped up before the market opened 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.

The oil and gas company reported $0.25 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $134.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com lowered Core Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLB. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 446.8% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,460,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $90,508,000 after acquiring an additional 3,644,963 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 10,825,657 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $184,902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837,258 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,286,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,682,000 after buying an additional 195,756 shares in the last quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 101.7% in the first quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 326,890 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,583,000 after buying an additional 164,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC grew its position in Core Laboratories by 52.7% during the first quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 420,411 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,181,000 after acquiring an additional 145,161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $858.27 million, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.36. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.96.

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.