Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 128,590,000 shares, a growth of 213.4% from the February 28th total of 41,030,000 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 18.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at $13,700,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 595.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 5,982 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of 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 period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $746,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $136,994,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064,492 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Tudor Pickering cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE:CNQ traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.03. 1,508,450 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,159,109. Canadian Natural Resources has a 1-year low of $25.62 and a 1-year high of $41.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.17.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.4117 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

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).