Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives $57.00 Average PT 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 covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. Desjardins lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore cut Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $48.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.62. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $24.65 and a 12-month high of $51.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.