Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of California Resources Call Options (NYSE:CRC)

California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 2,880 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 393% compared to the average volume of 584 call options.

California Resources Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of CRC traded up $0.46 on Friday, reaching $58.93. The stock had a trading volume of 146,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 836,955. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.27. California Resources has a 12-month low of $43.09 and a 12-month high of $60.41.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.62. California Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $973.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 194.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that California Resources will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.3875 per share. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. California Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded California Resources from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on California Resources from $65.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens started coverage on California Resources in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on California Resources in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded California Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Noelle M. Repetti sold 8,770 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.75, for a total transaction of $488,927.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,603.25. This trade represents a 50.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Francisco Leon sold 7,500 shares of California Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.18, for a total value of $368,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 166,357 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,437.26. The trade was a 4.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,270 shares of company stock worth $1,387,778. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of California Resources by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,109 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 6.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,495 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,342,000 after acquiring an additional 2,475 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 2.2% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 287,468 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,839,000 after acquiring an additional 6,312 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of California Resources by 7.4% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 32,209 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,775,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of California Resources in the second quarter worth $320,000. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

California Resources Company Profile

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.