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

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 252,789 call options on the company. This is an increase of 5,563% compared to the average volume of 4,464 call options.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $50.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $105.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.62 and its 200-day moving average is $35.18. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $24.65 and a 12-month high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNQ has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Desjardins lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,336 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,996 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 65.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,667 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares during the period. 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.