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

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,956,204,000 after buying an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,411,619,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,616,347 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $393,213,000 after buying an additional 7,455,286 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 11,020.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,735 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $124,672,000 after buying an additional 3,647,636 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,826,578,000 after buying an additional 3,397,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.1%

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $39.53 on Monday. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.30 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $45.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.95. The company has a market capitalization of $82.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. 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.