Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Update

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 148,310,000 shares, a growth of 152.2% from the May 31st total of 58,810,000 shares. Approximately 7.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 26.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Desjardins cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNQ. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,400,616 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $105,543,000 after acquiring an additional 127,549 shares during the period. Granite Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter worth approximately $203,000. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 61.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 19,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,565 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 305.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 36,858 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after buying an additional 27,766 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $1,006,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CNQ traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,887,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,672,702. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 1.50. Canadian Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $26.81 and a twelve month high of $41.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.25.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 20.58%. On average, analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.78 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 Friday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.777 per share. This represents a $3.11 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.73%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.56%.

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).