Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $49.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Canadian Natural Resources traded as high as $48.25 and last traded at $48.0890, with a volume of 2926939 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.26.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Desjardins downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.00.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.68. The firm has a market cap of $101.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.53%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.