Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Sets New 1-Year High Following Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) hit a new 52-week high intraday after reporting quarterly EPS of $0.82 versus the $0.53 consensus, with shares trading as high as $45.92 and last near $44.95.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—consensus Hold (five Buys, six Holds) with an average target of $48.50—while institutional investors own about 74% of the stock; the company has a market cap of roughly $93.4B and a P/E near 19.8.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $45.92 and last traded at $44.95, with a volume of 2655277 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.18.

The oil and gas producer reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.29. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 14.90%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Evercore lowered Canadian Natural Resources from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Desjardins downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 309.1% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business's 50 day moving average is $37.33 and its 200-day moving average is $33.89. The company has a market cap of $93.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 0.63.

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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