Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Down 50.2% in July

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 47,565,794 shares, a drop of 50.2% from the June 30th total of 95,572,175 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,137,931 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 1.7%

Canadian Natural Resources stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $47.25. 4,409,564 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,924,198. The company has a market cap of $98.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $29.30 and a twelve 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $43.70 and a 200-day moving average of $43.68.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,956,204,000 after buying an additional 35,067,143 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $1,411,619,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,616,347 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $393,213,000 after acquiring an additional 7,455,286 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 11,020.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,735 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $124,672,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,826,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

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.