Brokerages Set Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Price Target at $48.50

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.50.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CNQ. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the second quarter worth about $361,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,852,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003,542 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,458,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 41,581,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,304,267,000 after purchasing an additional 316,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 9.9% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $37.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.36. The stock has a market cap of $77.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.68. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $38.32.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 14.90%.The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

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.