Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Acquires New Stake in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 113,203 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,960,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new stake in Core Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $615,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $3,966,000 after buying an additional 6,827 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 443,621 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,679,000 after buying an additional 26,237 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted 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 buying an additional 16,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 2,688.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,426 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on CLB shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Core Laboratories from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

Core Laboratories stock opened at $17.87 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.15 and its 200-day moving average is $18.86. The company has a market cap of $838.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.71. Core Laboratories Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.82 and a 12 month high of $25.13.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Core Laboratories had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 5.99%. Equities analysts anticipate that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Core Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 6.06%.

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.