Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) Downgraded by Desjardins

Desjardins lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) (NYSE:CNQ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins currently has C$110.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of C$104.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on CNQ. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from C$105.00 to C$115.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. ATB Capital raised their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from C$100.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from C$100.00 to C$120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from C$90.00 to C$100.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from C$113.00 to C$124.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$111.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ stock opened at C$105.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of C$113.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 31.01, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$100.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$91.74. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of C$69.83 and a one year high of C$112.99.

Canadian Natural Resources (TSE:CNQ) (NYSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported C$2.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.14 by C$0.20. The firm had revenue of C$9.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$9.04 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.89% and a return on equity of 21.11%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 7.6092114 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Warren Paul Raczynski sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$110.81, for a total transaction of C$332,430.00. In other news, Director Stephen W. Laut bought 414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$105.70 per share, with a total value of C$43,760.71. Also, Senior Officer Warren Paul Raczynski sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$110.81, for a total transaction of C$332,430.00. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 331,237 shares of company stock valued at $32,470,646. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).