Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on CNQ. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 240.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 22,776,594 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $701,519,000 after buying an additional 16,094,168 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 86.6% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,262,707 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $746,675,000 after buying an additional 11,259,267 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 29.1% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,968,120 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,354,219,000 after buying an additional 9,915,345 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,857,337,000 after buying an additional 7,372,718 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 13.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,769,153 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,285,464,000 after buying an additional 4,805,451 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE:CNQ traded down $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $33.42. The company had a trading volume of 12,283,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,695,099. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.32. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $37.91.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 20.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4227 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.06%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.06%.

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).