Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives $63.00 Average Price Target 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 research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.00.

CNQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

CNQ stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.91. 800,672 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,826,114. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $38.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 1.04.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.4227 per share. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is 63.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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).