Canadian Natural Resources Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CNQ)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 8,041 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 116% compared to the average volume of 3,728 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,956,204,000 after purchasing an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,826,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397,500 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,411,619,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,236,328 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $634,507,000 after buying an additional 88,990 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,308,539 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $484,344,000 after buying an additional 260,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of CNQ traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.17. The company had a trading volume of 4,150,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,302,248. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $29.68 and a 1-year high of $52.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.53. The stock has a market cap of $97.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.40 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 22.78%. Research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of C$0.62 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.