Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on CNQ. Evercore ISI lowered Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. 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 seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 1.7%

CNQ opened at $32.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $35.12. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.69.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CNQ. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,336 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% during the first 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 during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.