Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded CNQ from "strong sell" to "hold," and overall analyst coverage is split (six Buy, six Hold) with a consensus target price of $57 and an average rating of Moderate Buy.
• Canadian Natural Resources beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.59 (vs. $0.53 expected) and revenue of $6.89B, reporting a net margin of 24.48% and ROE of 17.84%.
• Institutional investors own about 74.03% of the stock, with large position increases by firms such as Capital Research Global Investors and Vanguard; the company’s market cap is roughly $102.44B and the recent share price opened near $49.11.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Evercore downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $49.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $102.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.79. Canadian Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% during 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 buying an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $3,160,340,000 after buying an additional 818,809 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,446,951,000 after buying an additional 1,342,954 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $855,414,000 after buying an additional 2,546,233 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,621 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $710,119,000 after buying an additional 1,347,844 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

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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