Royce & Associates LP Reduces Holdings in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its position in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 969,128 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 51,993 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 2.06% of Core Laboratories worth $16,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLB. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Core Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,975,016 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $36,597,000 after buying an additional 56,187 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Core Laboratories by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,053,204 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $19,521,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Core Laboratories by 288.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 229,096 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,966,000 after purchasing an additional 6,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:CLB opened at $15.31 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.31. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.95 and a 1-year high of $25.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $716.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.38.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 5.99%. Analysts forecast that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup upgraded Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Core Laboratories has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Core Laboratories 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.