Canadian Natrl Res Upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus (CNQ)

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Canadian Natrl Res (NYSE: CNQ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. They currently have $38.00 price target on the stock.

“We believe that the relative underperformance to the EPX provides an attractive entry point. The recent improvement in heavy oil, synthetic diffs, and strong Horizon production volumes YTD are not reflected in the stock and should allow for a strong 1Q13, consensus 2013 CFPS has upside relative to current heavy oil diffs, and CNQ provides very strong leverage to further expected improvements in heavy oil diffs in 2H13. Decision on Keystone XL could move the stock in the near-term, but its impact is on 2015+ volume outlook, which we view as the largest risk to the name.,” Stifel Nicolaus’ analyst commented.

Canadian Natrl Res (NYSE: CNQ) traded down 0.76% on Thursday, hitting $32.68. Canadian Natrl Res has a 1-year low of $25.01 and a 1-year high of $36.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $30.68. The company has a market cap of $35.706 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th.

A number of other firms have also recently commented on CNQ. Analysts at CIBC downgraded shares of Canadian Natrl Res from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note to investors on Friday, March 8th. Separately, analysts at CIBC downgraded shares of Canadian Natrl Res from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note to investors on Friday, March 8th. They now have a $35.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $34.00. Finally, analysts at Zacks reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Canadian Natrl Res in a research note to investors on Wednesday, February 6th. They now have a $32.00 price target on the stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (Canadian Natural) is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development and production company.

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