Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Trading Up 5.4% – Here’s Why

Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) traded up 5.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $21.54 and last traded at $21.41. 42,411 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 419,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 2.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.09 and a 200 day moving average of $19.37.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. The firm had revenue of $134.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.16 million. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 5.83%. Core Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 446.8% during the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 3,644,963 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 195,756 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Core Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $3,531,000. Gendell Jeffrey L increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 164,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 19.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 990,267 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,350,000 after acquiring an additional 161,278 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Core Laboratories Company Profile

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.