Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Update

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 112,605,424 shares, a growth of 118.2% from the May 31st total of 51,596,398 shares. Approximately 5.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,487,146 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 15.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on CNQ shares. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $39.36 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $29.30 and a one year high of $51.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.99. The stock has a market cap of $81.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.03%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.