Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

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

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

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of CNQ opened at $45.81 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month high of $51.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.09.

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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 15,199 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Ted Buchan & Co grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 93,840 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,573,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 15.4% in the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during 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.