Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives $62.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.00.

CNQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Zacks Research raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, October 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenline Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.5% during the third quarter. Greenline Partners LLC now owns 143,567 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,588,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 23.2% in the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 76,256 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,437,000 after purchasing an additional 14,364 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.5% in the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 329,617 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $10,657,000 after purchasing an additional 11,192 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 225.7% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 232,705 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,437,000 after purchasing an additional 161,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,459,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $34.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $34.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.46.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 19.00% and a return on equity of 19.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.5875 per share. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.89%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).