Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) shares saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 17,097,867 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 158% from the previous session’s volume of 6,635,513 shares.The stock last traded at $33.3550 and had previously closed at $33.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.82.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 14.90%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.5875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 74.34%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,486,389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,957,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,290 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,505,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051,714 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 29.1% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,968,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,354,219,000 after purchasing an additional 9,915,345 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 13.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,769,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,285,464,000 after buying an additional 4,805,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.8% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 41,581,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,304,267,000 after buying an additional 316,933 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).