Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Up 174.0% in August

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 111,500,000 shares, an increase of 174.0% from the August 15th total of 40,700,000 shares. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 22.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,485,000. Souders Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 103.0% in the second quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 99,999 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,560,000 after acquiring an additional 50,744 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 64.4% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,186,643 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $42,243,000 after acquiring an additional 464,677 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 97.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 72,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,592,000 after acquiring an additional 35,962 shares during the period. Finally, Ted Buchan & Co purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the second quarter worth about $710,000. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNQ. Raymond James raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 0.9 %

CNQ traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.97. 6,995,053 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,560,250. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.46. Canadian Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $41.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.26. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 22.09% and a net margin of 18.05%. The company had revenue of $7.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.384 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.35%.

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).