Canadian Natural Resources’ (CNQ) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $63.00 target price on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CNQ. Tudor Pickering lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ stock opened at $30.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.48. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $25.62 and a one year high of $41.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.14.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.4117 per share. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 77.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. FMR LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,857,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,372,718 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6,902.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,652,855 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $112,763,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,686 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 73.3% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 7,834,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $260,116,000 after acquiring an additional 3,312,442 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,433,797 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $414,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 63.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,233,388 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $273,417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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).