Short Interest in Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) Declines By 8.0%

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,860,000 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the August 31st total of 7,460,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 451,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 15.2 days. Currently, 14.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Core Laboratories from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Core Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Core Laboratories from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Core Laboratories Stock Performance

CLB traded up $0.68 on Tuesday, hitting $19.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 302,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,845. Core Laboratories has a 12 month low of $13.82 and a 12 month high of $25.13. The firm has a market cap of $900.95 million, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.75.

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

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Core Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Core Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 1,178.6% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 31.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 19.7% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,713 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Core Laboratories by 43.8% during the fourth quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,577 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.