Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Desjardins downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:CNQ opened at $77.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12 month low of $52.66 and a 12 month high of $82.58. The company has a market cap of $83.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.79.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 21.74%. The business had revenue of $7.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. Research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.774 per share. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 53.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Central Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 117.8% in the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 453 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

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).