Brokerages Set Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Target Price at $51.00

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the four research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.00.

A number of research firms have commented on CNQ. StockNews.com lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 17.7% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,666 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,504 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter worth $10,937,000. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 23.4% in the first quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,491 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $33.10 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1 year low of $29.45 and a 1 year high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $69.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.54.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $7.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.38 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.388 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

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).