Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ saw a large 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 short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 26.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNQ. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Desjardins downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Raymond James raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.67. 2,831,848 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,811,172. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $26.81 and a one year high of $41.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.18. The stock has a market cap of $76.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.21% and a return on equity of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $6.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.01 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.777 dividend. This represents a $3.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.71%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is presently 60.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 993.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 206,580 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $13,535,000 after buying an additional 187,694 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 556.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 96,338 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $6,312,000 after purchasing an additional 81,669 shares during the last quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 464,287 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $30,406,000 after buying an additional 15,546 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 456,414 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $29,904,000 after purchasing an additional 44,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 5,797 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 2,779 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

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).

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