Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Upgraded to Hold at Desjardins

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was upgraded by analysts at Desjardins to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CNQ. Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE CNQ opened at $43.86 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $91.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month high of $51.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.79.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.