Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Update

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 9,862,575 shares, a drop of 56.4% from the April 15th total of 22,608,646 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 13,517,525 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CNQ shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of CNQ stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.99. The stock had a trading volume of 6,511,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,059,356. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.34. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52-week low of $29.30 and a 52-week high of $51.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.7% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 15,199 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Ted Buchan & Co increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.3% during the first quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 93,840 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,573,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 32,763 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.