Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday. The stock traded as high as $55.50 and last traded at $54.5190, with a volume of 6,518,681 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CNQ shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.0%

The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.25 and its 200-day moving average is $46.82. 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 company has a market capitalization of $113.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.53.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.40 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of C$0.62 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter valued at about $1,411,619,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.4% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,459,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $784,278,000 after acquiring an additional 223,444 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,994,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,568,000 after acquiring an additional 217,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,011,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $341,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475,500 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, marketing and sale of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its portfolio includes conventional and unconventional petroleum assets, heavy crude oil operations, and oil sands projects that produce bitumen and synthetic crude oil.

The company’s principal operations are located in Western Canada, including oil sands and conventional assets in Alberta and natural gas properties in Alberta and British Columbia.