Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.50.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNQ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price target on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Desjardins cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Evercore ISI downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $37.88 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $38.32. The company has a market capitalization of $78.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted 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. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 14.90%.The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.5875 per share. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 74.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $361,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,852,024,000 after buying an additional 3,003,542 shares during the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter worth approximately $2,458,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.8% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 41,581,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,304,267,000 after buying an additional 316,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.9% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

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.