Short Interest in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Rises By 96.3%

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 113,170,168 shares, a growth of 96.3% from the August 15th total of 57,647,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,523,776 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 20.5 days. Approximately 5.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNQ traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $50.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,696,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,460,393. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $29.68 and a twelve month high of $52.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.70 and a 200 day moving average of $46.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The company had revenue of $14.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.40 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,447 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Ted Buchan & Co raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,854 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Desjardins raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) is a Canadian independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and refining company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces a range of energy products, including heavy and light crude oil, synthetic crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CNRL’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it holds significant oil sands, conventional oil and natural gas assets. Its oil sands business includes mining and upgrading operations as well as in situ thermal projects.