Investors Buy Large Volume of Canadian Natural Resources Call Options (NYSE:CNQ)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 6,356 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 77% compared to the average daily volume of 3,600 call options.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $42.51 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $43.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.06. The company has a market cap of $88.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CNQ. Zacks Research cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Evercore lowered Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 target price on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Desjardins lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.50.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $4,956,204,000 after buying an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 818,809 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,505,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051,714 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 2,546,233 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,621 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $710,119,000 after buying an additional 1,347,844 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.