Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Canadian Natural Resources was upgraded from a "hold" to a "strong-buy" rating by Zacks Research, indicating increased investor confidence in the stock.
• The stock has a consensus target price of $62.00, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Hold" from various analysts.
• In the most recent quarter, Canadian Natural Resources reported earnings per share of $0.51, surpassing estimates, although revenue was lower than expected at $6.39 billion.

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

CNQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.68. 6,081,073 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,823,787. The firm has a market cap of $66.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $37.91.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a $0.4269 dividend. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,074,921 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $94,923,000 after purchasing an additional 551,109 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 31,929 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 56,154 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 10,436 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 239,932 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $7,407,000 after purchasing an additional 95,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bearing Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $445,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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).