Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNQ. Evercore downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $50.05 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $104.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.50 and a 200 day moving average of $35.93.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,956,204,000 after buying an additional 35,067,143 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,160,340,000 after buying an additional 818,809 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,505,303,000 after buying an additional 2,051,714 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $855,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,621 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347,844 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

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.