Analysts Set Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) PT at $94.00

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CNQ shares. Desjardins lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,241,367 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $171,061,000 after purchasing an additional 48,472 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 307.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 49,633 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,788,000 after purchasing an additional 37,439 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 80,681 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,158,000 after purchasing an additional 5,343 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $3,732,000. Finally, Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 47,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,658,000 after purchasing an additional 5,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE:CNQ opened at $77.32 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $52.66 and a 52 week high of $82.58. The firm has a market cap of $82.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 21.74%. The business had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.774 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 53.25%.

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).