Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.78 Per Share

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of 0.777 per share by the oil and gas producer on Friday, July 5th. This represents a $3.11 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77.

Canadian Natural Resources has raised its dividend by an average of 29.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 17 years. Canadian Natural Resources has a payout ratio of 45.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Canadian Natural Resources to earn $6.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.1%.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE CNQ traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.64. 2,752,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,262,509. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Canadian Natural Resources has a 52-week low of $52.66 and a 52-week high of $82.58. The firm has a market cap of $80.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 1.52.

Canadian Natural Resources’s stock is set to split on the morning of Tuesday, June 11th. The 2-1 split was announced on Tuesday, June 11th. The newly minted shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, June 11th.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources will post 5.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Desjardins downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.00.

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).