Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Announces C$0.63 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Canadian Natural declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.625 per share (reported as C$0.63), payable July 7 to shareholders of record June 19, implying an annualized payout of C$1.83 and a yield of about 5.6%.
• The company has raised its dividend annually for 24 consecutive years, but its current payout ratio is elevated at 75.9%; analysts forecast EPS that would reduce the expected payout ratio to roughly 62%, so coverage depends on future earnings.
• Shares slipped 2.1% to $44.69 after the announcement; the company beat last quarter’s EPS and revenue estimates ($0.59 EPS on $6.89B revenue) and trades at a P/E of about 12.1 with a market cap near $93.2 billion.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 19th will be given a dividend of 0.625 per share by the oil and gas producer on Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%.

Canadian Natural Resources has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 24 consecutive years. Canadian Natural Resources has a dividend payout ratio of 75.9% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings decline. Equities analysts expect Canadian Natural Resources to earn $2.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.83 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.0%.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $44.69. The stock had a trading volume of 9,440,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,298,792. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1 year low of $29.27 and a 1 year high of $51.34. The firm's 50 day moving average is $46.58 and its 200-day moving average is $38.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.00.

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.

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