Canadian Natural Resources Limited to Issue Quarterly Dividend of C$0.63 (NYSE:CNQ)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 19th will be given a dividend of 0.625 per share by the oil and gas producer on Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%.

Canadian Natural Resources has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 24 consecutive years. Canadian Natural Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 75.9% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect Canadian Natural Resources to earn $2.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.83 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.0%.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.69. 9,440,371 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,298,792. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.63. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $29.27 and a 1-year high of $51.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $93.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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 report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

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.