Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $28.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.67. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1 year low of $25.62 and a 1 year high of $41.29. The company has a market cap of $59.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 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. Investors 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 5.81%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 144.1% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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).