Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Price Target Cut to $62.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has lowered its price target for Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 104.24% from the current share price.
• The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for its latest quarter, beating expectations, but revenue fell short of consensus estimates.
• Institutional investors have shown significant interest, with Goldman Sachs increasing its holdings by 240.8% in the first quarter, indicating strong support for the stock among large financial players.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ had its price target reduced by Royal Bank Of Canada from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the oil and gas producer's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 358,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,455,185. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.85. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $37.91. The business's 50 day moving average price is $31.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.35. The company has a market cap of $62.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 1.05.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.07. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 19.00% and a return on equity of 19.67%. The company had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4269 per share. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 330,500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,203,000 after buying an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $775,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 706,198 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $21,792,000 after buying an additional 66,075 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $38,441,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).