Raymond James Financial Downgrades Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) to Hold

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ stock opened at $49.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $102.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.13. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $51.34.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Ted Buchan & Co grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 5,753 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,391 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. 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.