Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

CNQ has been the topic of several research reports. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $47.54 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month high of $51.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.