Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Short Interest Report for October

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 59,387,363 shares, a decrease of 49.3% from the September 30th total of 117,144,565 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,073,756 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 11.7 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Monday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,198,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $117,215,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,122,209 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $252,883,000 after buying an additional 938,210 shares during the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter valued at about $1,785,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 8,238,632 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $325,426,000 after buying an additional 244,205 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE CNQ traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $54.13. The company had a trading volume of 2,595,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,844,811. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.76 and its 200-day moving average is $45.85. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $30.13 and a 1-year high of $56.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.40 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 22.78%. On average, analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a C$0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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.