Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Update

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 41,030,000 shares, an increase of 342.1% from the February 13th total of 9,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,580,717 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $973,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464,807 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 78.3% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 72,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,242,000 after buying an additional 31,933 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 92.0% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 36,615 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,130,000 after buying an additional 17,542 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,609,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 22,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock traded up $0.51 on Wednesday, hitting $29.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,416,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,036,280. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.56. The firm has a market cap of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 1.48. Canadian Natural Resources has a one year low of $25.62 and a one year high of $41.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.00.

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).