Desjardins Lowers Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) to Hold

Desjardins downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.8 %

CNQ stock opened at $77.95 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.77. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $52.66 and a 12-month high of $82.58. The company has a market cap of $83.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.13. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 21.74%. The company had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.774 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,819,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $643,348,000 after buying an additional 4,989,634 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 21,562,341 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,419,556,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224,598 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1,606.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,703,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $177,952,000 after purchasing an additional 2,544,593 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,640,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $494,262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305,000 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9,297.9% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,192,895 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $143,284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169,561 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).