Short Interest in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Declines By 93.0%

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,620,000 shares, a decline of 93.0% from the December 15th total of 109,510,000 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 3.5 %

CNQ traded down $1.14 on Monday, hitting $31.60. The company had a trading volume of 10,848,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,842,162. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.15. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $7.62 billion for 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Desjardins raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 93.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,464,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,476,644,000 after buying an additional 19,980,902 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 105.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 31,668,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,127,382,000 after acquiring an additional 16,245,046 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 90.3% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,017,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,069,338,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,978 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 102.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,084,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $963,348,000 after buying an additional 13,694,741 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 254.7% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 18,501,417 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $658,650,000 after acquiring an additional 13,284,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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).