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

Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

CNQ stock opened at $43.86 on Thursday. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $29.30 and a one year high of $51.34. The firm has a market cap of $91.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 17.49%. The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.7%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 82.3% in the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,685 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 3,920 shares during the last quarter. Steadtrust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.0% during the second quarter. Steadtrust LLC now owns 39,380 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,556,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Wealth Science Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 129.9% during the second quarter. Wealth Science Advisors LLC now owns 18,028 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 10,185 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 28.2% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 23,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

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.