Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Update

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 112,605,424 shares, an increase of 118.2% from the May 31st total of 51,596,398 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 7,487,146 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 15.0 days.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $38.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.30 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.07. The company has a market cap of $80.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.47.

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 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.