Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

CNQ has been the subject of several other research reports. 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. Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $47.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.62. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month high of $51.34.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake 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 worth $4,956,204,000 after purchasing an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,160,340,000 after purchasing an additional 818,809 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 42,745,981 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,446,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342,954 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,397,500 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,411,619,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.