California Resources Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 (NYSE:CRC)

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.3875 per share by the oil and gas producer on Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th.

California Resources has raised its dividend payment by an average of 101.7% per year over the last three years. California Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 36.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect California Resources to earn $4.08 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 38.0%.

California Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CRC stock traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,372,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,853. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.20. California Resources has a 52-week low of $38.09 and a 52-week high of $60.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.16, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.06. 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 (NYSE:CRC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $877.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $901.36 million. California Resources had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 12.16%. Research analysts anticipate that California Resources will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Omar Hayat sold 16,016 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total transaction of $883,762.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,940 shares in the company, valued at $1,707,269.20. This represents a 34.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CRC has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of California Resources in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on California Resources in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on California Resources in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $63.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.25.

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.