Analysts Set Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) PT at $49.50

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.50.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNQ. Raymond James raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.1 %

CNQ stock opened at $33.40 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.42. The stock has a market cap of $71.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Canadian Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $29.45 and a twelve month high of $41.29.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $7.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.19 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.05% and a return on equity of 22.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.384 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.75%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 96.2% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,518,833 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,514,190,000 after acquiring an additional 20,843,193 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 93.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,464,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,476,644,000 after purchasing an additional 19,980,902 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 105.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 31,668,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,127,382,000 after purchasing an additional 16,245,046 shares during the last quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 95.9% during the 2nd quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 29,456,746 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,048,660,000 after buying an additional 14,418,835 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 90.3% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,017,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,069,338,000 after buying an additional 14,246,978 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).