Canadian Natural Resources Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CNQ)

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 5,309 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 68% compared to the typical volume of 3,169 call options.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 309.1% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 997 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 253.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,307 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 104.0% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of CNQ opened at $30.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $64.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $37.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.37.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.97 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 19.00%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4269 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $1.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.64%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).