Price-Target Cuts Galore For CLB After Forecast Cuts

Three brokerages have trimmed their price targets in response

One of the worst stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today is Core Laboratories N.V. (NASDAQ:CLB). The oil name is down 20% to trade at $38.05, at last check, after the company trimmed its fourth-quarter estimates, its 2020 first-quarter forecast, and its quarterly dividend.

At least four brokerages have issued price-target cuts already, the lowest coming from Simmons Energy to $37 from $40. The analyst in coverage at J.P. Morgan Securities called the dividend cut a "significant acknowledgement," while Evercore said they don't see the decisions as an "existential issue."

CLB is drifting toward its Aug. 23 10-year low of $36.61. The shares have spent the last three months consolidating below the round $50 level, an area that coincides with their 180-day moving average. The equity is now set to end the year down 36%.

Core Laboratories' shorts sellers would be cheering today's drop, had the equity not just landed on the Short Sale Restricted (SSR) list. Although short interest fell 16% in the two most recent reporting periods, a healthy 7.1% of CLB's total available float is sold short, or 5.1 times the average daily trading volume.