Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Desjardins raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $34.22 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $41.29. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.11.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $7.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.40 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.388 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 60.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 59.9% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,245 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 3,837 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter worth $1,006,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 305.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 36,858 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 27,766 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 61.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 19,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 104.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 874 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).