Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives $48.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.50.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNQ. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, October 9th.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,160,340,000 after buying an additional 818,809 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,505,303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051,714 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 41,581,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,304,267,000 after acquiring an additional 316,933 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $855,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,146,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $548,214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,832,155 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $37.20 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $38.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.69 and its 200-day moving average is $32.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.68.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 18.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.5875 dividend. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.34%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.