Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives $63.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.00.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CNQ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $30.92 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.69 and its 200-day moving average is $30.43. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $37.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $64.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.03.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.90% and a net margin of 16.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.4227 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.47%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $256,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 545,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $16,832,000 after purchasing an additional 34,928 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 90,687 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,799,000 after purchasing an additional 2,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 56,424 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).