Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Raised to Outperform at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James upgraded Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) from a "market perform" rating to "outperform" in a report issued Thursday.
• Several other firms have recently raised ratings and price targets, leaving the stock with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57 per MarketBeat data.
• CNQ beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.59 (vs. $0.53 est.) and revenue of $6.89B (vs. $6.64B); shares traded at $44.69 (down 2.1%), with a market cap of $93.22B and a P/E of 12.12.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ was upgraded by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of CNQ stock traded down $0.94 on Thursday, reaching $44.69. 4,583,545 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,239,328. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $29.27 and a 52 week high of $51.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $46.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.63.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,956,204,000 after acquiring an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the 4th 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 lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.2% during the 4th 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,621 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $710,119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347,844 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,308,539 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $484,344,000 after acquiring an additional 260,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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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