Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Lowered to Hold at Desjardins

Desjardins cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CNQ opened at $77.08 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $52.66 and a 52 week high of $82.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.774 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at about $494,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,559 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 238.1% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).