Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Up 10.8% in November

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,910,000 shares, a growth of 10.8% from the October 31st total of 21,570,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ stock traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $33.58. 3,105,014 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,273,930. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.17. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.45 and a fifty-two week high of $41.29.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.30. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 18.45%. The business had revenue of $7.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.388 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 98.3% in the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 710 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 716 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 7,302 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CNQ shares. Desjardins raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

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).