Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Price Target Raised to $49.00

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) had its price target hoisted by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $37.00 to $49.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 0.96% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Desjardins lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE:CNQ traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $48.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,813,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,225,011. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $48.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.61 and a 200-day moving average of $34.46. The company has a market capitalization of $101.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.63.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,852,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,003,542 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,616,219 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,654,000 after buying an additional 43,356 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,716,038 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,883,000 after acquiring an additional 33,609 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 9.9% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 9.1% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,718,220 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,946,000 after acquiring an additional 143,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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.