Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Sets New 12-Month High Following Earnings Beat

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $45.92 and last traded at $44.95, with a volume of 2655277 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.18.

The oil and gas producer reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.29. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 18.93%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price target on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Evercore cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Desjardins downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,852,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003,542 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,616,219 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,654,000 after buying an additional 43,356 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,716,038 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,883,000 after buying an additional 33,609 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.9% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.1% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,718,220 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,946,000 after buying an additional 143,550 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $93.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.89.

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.