Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest plunged in Canadian Natural Resources during April, falling 56.4% to 9.86 million shares as of April 30. That leaves only about 0.5% of the company’s shares shorted, with a low days-to-cover ratio of 0.7.
• Analysts have remained broadly positive on CNQ, with recent upgrades and higher price targets from firms including Goldman Sachs, Raymond James, and RBC. The stock currently carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.00.
• The company reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.85 versus estimates of $0.74 and revenue of $7.72 billion. CNQ also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 5.2%.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 9,862,575 shares, a drop of 56.4% from the April 15th total of 22,608,646 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 13,517,525 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,956,204,000 after purchasing an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,160,340,000 after acquiring an additional 818,809 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 42,745,981 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,446,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342,954 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,826,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,500 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter worth about $1,411,619,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.99. The company had a trading volume of 6,511,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,059,356. The firm has a market cap of $99.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $46.97 and a 200-day moving average of $39.34. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12 month low of $29.30 and a 12 month high of $51.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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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