Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Down 50.2% in July

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 47,565,794 shares, a drop of 50.2% from the June 30th total of 95,572,175 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,137,931 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Desjardins raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.31. 2,937,155 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,123,443. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.37. The company has a market capitalization of $91.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52-week low of $29.30 and a 52-week high of $51.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 54.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 8,336 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 13,996 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,445,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 65.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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.