Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Has Average Target Price of $57.00 According to Analysts

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CNQ shares. Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $49.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.50. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $29.68 and a 1-year high of $52.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $101.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of C$0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,411,619,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% in the first 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. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 105.7% during the second quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 6,350,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $250,892,000 after acquiring an additional 3,262,880 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter worth $117,215,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 49.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,565,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $320,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,184,892 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and transportation company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces synthetic crude oil, conventional heavy and light crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas.

Its operations are concentrated in Western Canada and include oil sands mining and upgrading projects in northern Alberta, conventional and heavy-oil assets, and natural gas production.