Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CNQ. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $51.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $29.48 and a 1-year high of $51.34. The company has a market capitalization of $105.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.02 and a 200-day moving average of $44.98.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.40 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 22.78%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 8,336 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 13,996 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 65.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the period. 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.