Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

CNQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 1.1%

CNQ stock opened at $47.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.87 and a 200 day moving average of $40.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $29.30 and a 52 week high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.