Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CNQ. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $49.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $102.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.95. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.79.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. The business 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ted Buchan & Co lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.1% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 5,753 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $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 during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.