Short Interest in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Drops By 56.4%

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 9,862,575 shares, a decline of 56.4% from the April 15th total of 22,608,646 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,517,525 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $47.99. 6,511,380 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,402,887. The company has a market cap of $99.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $46.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 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.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

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.