Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Short Interest Up 268.8% in December

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 109,510,000 shares, an increase of 268.8% from the November 30th total of 29,690,000 shares. Approximately 5.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 24.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Desjardins raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Institutional Trading of Canadian Natural Resources

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 96.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,449,240 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $87,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,621 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 132.9% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 115,575 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,114,000 after buying an additional 65,942 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 88.8% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,868 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 2,760 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 98.0% in the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 16,914 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 8,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 126.6% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 23,937 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 13,373 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE CNQ traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.16. The stock had a trading volume of 2,538,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,206,966. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $63.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.47. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52-week low of $29.23 and a 52-week high of $41.29.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.388 dividend. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

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).