Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Neutral” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $16.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $15.00.

Core Laboratories Stock Up 4.1 %

Core Laboratories stock opened at $15.31 on Wednesday. Core Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $12.95 and a fifty-two week high of $25.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $716.83 million, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.32.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 5.99%. Equities research analysts expect that Core Laboratories will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.06%.

Institutional Trading of Core Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLB. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,016 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $36,597,000 after acquiring an additional 56,187 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,053,204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $19,521,000 after purchasing an additional 7,721 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 617,336 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,686,000 after purchasing an additional 16,503 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 288.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 62,042 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 229,096 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,966,000 after buying an additional 6,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

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.