Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Receives Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $63.00 price target on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Tudor Pickering cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $30.55 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.14. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52 week low of $25.62 and a 52 week high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $64.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.48.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.4117 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,700,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 595.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 5,982 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 296,424 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,151,000 after buying an additional 17,694 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,109,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $746,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270,945 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,437,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064,492 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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).