Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Canadian Natural Resources has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 12 brokerages, with an average 12-month price target of $57.00. The breakdown includes seven buy ratings, four hold ratings, and one strong buy.
• The company recently beat first-quarter expectations, reporting EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.74 estimate and revenue of $7.72 billion versus $7.57 billion expected. However, year-over-year profitability was weaker, with lower EPS, gross profit, and operating profit.
• CNQ also announced a quarterly dividend of C$0.625 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 5.6%. That payout underscores the stock’s appeal to income-focused investors, even as institutional ownership remains high at 74.03%.

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

CNQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th.

Key Stories Impacting Canadian Natural Resources

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian Natural Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Canadian Natural Resources beat Q1 expectations, with earnings and revenue coming in above analyst estimates; that kind of outperformance can support the stock as investors reward better-than-expected operating results. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from “market perform” to “outperform,” while Zacks Research also raised its view to “strong-buy,” signaling improved analyst confidence in CNQ’s outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.625 per share, underscoring its cash-return profile and offering investors a 5.6% annualized yield, which can attract income-focused buyers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CNQ also released first-quarter results showing strong revenue but softer profitability metrics versus last year, including lower gross profit, operating profit, and EPS year over year, which may temper enthusiasm even after the earnings beat. Article Title

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $44.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $92.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.63. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12 month low of $29.30 and a 12 month high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 22.04%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 19th will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 18th. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is 54.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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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