Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in Canadian Natural Resources fell 36% to 117.1 million shares by September 30, representing 6.0% of shares outstanding and a short-interest ratio of 21.3 days.
• Analysts largely maintained a positive view, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $57.00; institutional investors own 74.03% of the company.
• CNQ shares opened at $51.96, near their 52-week high, while the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and paid a quarterly dividend of C$0.62, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 4.8%.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 117,144,565 shares, a decline of 36.0% from the September 15th total of 182,920,552 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,491,694 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 21.3 days. Currently, 6.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.0% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,447 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.7% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 15,199 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,854 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 93,840 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,573,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 15,084 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Desjardins raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of CNQ stock opened at $51.96 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $29.68 and a fifty-two week high of $52.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $49.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.56.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 22.78%. The firm had revenue of $14.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.40 billion. Equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a C$0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and transportation company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces synthetic crude oil, conventional heavy and light crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas.

Its operations are concentrated in Western Canada and include oil sands mining and upgrading projects in northern Alberta, conventional and heavy-oil assets, and natural gas production.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.