Exchange Capital Management Inc. Purchases 3,024 Shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Core Laboratories Inc. (NYSE:CLB) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,138 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 3,024 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. owned 0.15% of Core Laboratories worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Core Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $434,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Core Laboratories by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 64,582 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 10,272 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Core Laboratories by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,021,121 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,921,000 after purchasing an additional 84,022 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc. lifted its position in Core Laboratories by 18.1% in the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 16,793 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in Core Laboratories by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,290 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 2,709 shares during the period. 97.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CLB. StockNews.com raised Core Laboratories from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Core Laboratories from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Core Laboratories Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CLB opened at $15.93 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $14.09 and a 1 year high of $25.13. The company has a market capitalization of $745.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.74.

Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.23 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts forecast that Core Laboratories Inc. will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Core Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.01 dividend. This represents a $0.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Core Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.06%.

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.