Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.78 Per Share

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.777 per share by the oil and gas producer on Friday, July 5th. This represents a $3.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77.

Canadian Natural Resources has raised its dividend by an average of 29.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 17 years. Canadian Natural Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 45.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Canadian Natural Resources to earn $6.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.1%.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

CNQ stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.64. The company had a trading volume of 2,752,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,262,509. The firm has a market cap of $80.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 1.52. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $52.66 and a 1-year high of $82.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Canadian Natural Resources shares are set to split on the morning of Tuesday, June 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Tuesday, June 11th. The newly minted shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Tuesday, June 11th.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. The company had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. On average, analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. Desjardins lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

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).