Zacks Research Upgrades Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) to “Strong-Buy”

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

CNQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $45.81 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52-week low of $29.30 and a 52-week high of $51.34. The company has a market capitalization of $95.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.00 and a 200-day moving average of $43.09.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 8,336 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 13,996 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 65.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.