Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Receives $62.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 309.1% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $33.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.85. Canadian Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $35.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $68.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.70.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion for 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 last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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 Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.5875 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.66%.

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).