Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Short Interest Report for September

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 117,144,565 shares, a drop of 36.0% from the September 15th total of 182,920,552 shares. Currently, 6.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 5,491,694 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 21.3 days.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $51.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.56. The company has a market cap of $106.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.53. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.68 and a fifty-two week high of $52.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.15. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The business had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.40 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a C$0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $6,198,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $117,215,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,122,209 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $252,883,000 after acquiring an additional 938,210 shares in the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $1,785,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.1% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 8,238,632 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $325,426,000 after acquiring an additional 244,205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Desjardins raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and transportation company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces synthetic crude oil, conventional heavy and light crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas.

Its operations are concentrated in Western Canada and include oil sands mining and upgrading projects in northern Alberta, conventional and heavy-oil assets, and natural gas production.