Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $16.53, but opened at $17.84. Core Laboratories shares last traded at $17.40, with a volume of 190,932 shares traded.

The oil and gas company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $129.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.47 million. Core Laboratories had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 15.90%.

Core Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Core Laboratories from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Core Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $7,886,000 after purchasing an additional 93,354 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Core Laboratories by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 27,524 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,071,000. Finally, Toroso Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 38,348 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $921,000 after buying an additional 2,480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.81% of the company’s stock.

Core Laboratories Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $793.81 million, a P/E ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 2.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

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.