Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Up 57.9% in May

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ was the target of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 79,040,000 shares, a growth of 57.9% from the May 15th total of 50,060,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 6,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 12.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 27,065 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 9,745 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 76,108 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,349,000 after purchasing an additional 13,277 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 595.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,468,492 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $137,889,000 after purchasing an additional 282,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,109,432 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $746,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,945 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CNQ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI raised Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ stock traded down $0.44 on Wednesday, reaching $33.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,457,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,661,602. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $30.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.33. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $37.91. The company has a market capitalization of $70.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 20.90%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.4227 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.06%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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).