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

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 252,789 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 5,563% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,464 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

CNQ stock traded up $1.62 during trading on Thursday, reaching $50.72. 28,407,083 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,746,204. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $51.34. The firm has a market cap of $105.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.