Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Down 3.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) traded down 3.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $17.65 and last traded at $17.96. 54,653 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 430,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CLB. Bank of America cut their price objective on Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Core Laboratories Stock Down 7.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $807.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a PEG 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 fifty day moving average is $18.63 and its 200-day moving average is $18.97.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $130.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.85 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 5.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,837,258 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Core Laboratories by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,392,034 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $92,096,000 after acquiring an additional 27,701 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 446.8% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,460,720 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $90,508,000 after purchasing an additional 3,644,963 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 6.3% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,286,438 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $66,682,000 after purchasing an additional 195,756 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 1.3% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 729,760 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $14,807,000 after purchasing an additional 9,468 shares in the last quarter. 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.