Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $49.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Canadian Natural Resources traded as high as $48.25 and last traded at $48.0890, with a volume of 2926939 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.26.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CNQ. Evercore lowered Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Desjardins downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ted Buchan & Co raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 5,753 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,391 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $101.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.68.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

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.