Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Up 10.8% in November

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,910,000 shares, a growth of 10.8% from the October 31st total of 21,570,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNQ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

CNQ stock traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.22. The stock had a trading volume of 3,760,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,719,650. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.11. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52-week low of $29.45 and a 52-week high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $72.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $7.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.40 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 18.45%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.388 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 60.58%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $890,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 226.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,549,610 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,199 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 112.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 453,393 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $15,057,000 after buying an additional 240,354 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 123.0% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 54,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,804,000 after buying an additional 29,961 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 228.5% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 91,652 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,263,000 after buying an additional 63,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

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).