Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Upgraded by Scotiabank to "Sector Outperform" Rating

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

CNQ has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:CNQ traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $30.33. The stock had a trading volume of 10,510,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,131,722. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $25.62 and a 1-year high of $41.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.21. The company has a market cap of $63.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.48.

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Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.4117 per share. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is 77.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

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

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).