Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several research analysts have commented on CNQ shares. Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. CX Institutional bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $47.07 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $29.30 and a one year high of $51.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.The company had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.03%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.