Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives $57.00 Average PT from Analysts

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 0.0%

CNQ opened at $39.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.17. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.30 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. CX Institutional bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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.