Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Raised to Outperform at Raymond James Financial

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

CNQ has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ stock traded down $0.94 on Thursday, hitting $44.69. The company had a trading volume of 4,583,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,239,328. The firm has a market cap of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Canadian Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $29.27 and a twelve month high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.