Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Raymond James Financial

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on CNQ. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $44.52 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.73. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $92.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Canadian Natural Resources News

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian Natural Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Canadian Natural Resources beat Q1 expectations, with earnings and revenue coming in above analyst estimates; that kind of outperformance can support the stock as investors reward better-than-expected operating results. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from “market perform” to “outperform,” while Zacks Research also raised its view to “strong-buy,” signaling improved analyst confidence in CNQ’s outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.625 per share, underscoring its cash-return profile and offering investors a 5.6% annualized yield, which can attract income-focused buyers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CNQ also released first-quarter results showing strong revenue but softer profitability metrics versus last year, including lower gross profit, operating profit, and EPS year over year, which may temper enthusiasm even after the earnings beat. Article Title

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.