Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $36.42 and last traded at $36.06, with a volume of 5726105 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CNQ. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI cut Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $75.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.12.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 14.90%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.5875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 74.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,336 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,996 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $287,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.