Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Short Interest Update

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,970,000 shares, a drop of 9.4% from the March 31st total of 6,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 453,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 13.2 days. Currently, 12.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Core Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Core Laboratories stock traded up $0.01 on Monday, reaching $16.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 300,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 466,586. Core Laboratories has a 52-week low of $13.82 and a 52-week high of $27.94. The company has a market capitalization of $794.96 million, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 2.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $129.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.47 million. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 15.71%. Analysts expect that Core Laboratories will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.01 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLB. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 17.6% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 1,606,745 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,443,000 after purchasing an additional 240,989 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 754,407 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $13,323,000 after purchasing an additional 134,227 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 1.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 707,868 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,996,000 after purchasing an additional 6,703 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 25.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 436,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,479,000 after purchasing an additional 88,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Core Laboratories by 39.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 328,435 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,886,000 after purchasing an additional 93,354 shares in the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CLB shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 20th. 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, Core Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.75.

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.