Zacks Research Upgrades Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) to “Strong-Buy”

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

CNQ has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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. Evercore lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of CNQ traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.95. The company had a trading volume of 592,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,196,122. The stock has a market cap of $91.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.27 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.63.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 26.7% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,011,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $341,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475,500 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.2% during the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 105,714 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. McAlvany Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $1,502,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter worth about $235,000. Finally, WIT Partners Advisory Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 332.2% in the 1st quarter. WIT Partners Advisory Pte. Ltd. now owns 41,487 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after buying an additional 31,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.