Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Desjardins raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $1,411,619,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $124,672,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,826,578,000 after buying an additional 3,397,500 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ stock opened at $47.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $98.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $29.30 and a 52 week high of $51.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.70 and its 200 day moving average is $43.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 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.