Canadian Natural Resources

This stock (TSX-CNQ) is on the Dividend Achievers at www.dividendachievers.com/ and the Dividend Aristocrats lists. It is a stock that I notice has been recommended lately as good value. It is hard to know what to buy in such volatile markets, so I am featuring ones who have recently been recommended in this tough market.

I do not own this stock, so I have done a spreadsheet on it. Tomorrow, I will do an update to include the latest quarterly report. Looking at this stock using the reports up to December 2007, the last annual report, I find that the Revenues and Earnings per Share (EPS) have increased nicely over the last 2 years at the rate of 25% annually and 35% annually respectively. This company started paying dividends in 2001 and over the past 5 years, they have increased them by 22% annually. Also, the Operational Cash Flow has increased over the last 5 years by 23% annually.

The Current Asset/Current Liability Ratio is low at .61, but the Asset/Liability Ratio is a healthier 1.58. The December 2007 Graham Price at $51.84, is quite a bit off the closing price of $72.58. The Accrual Ratio at December 2007 is high at 9%. However, the P/E Ratio is not bad at 15.4 and the Return on Equity (ROE) is quite high at 19.6%.

The main negatives I see are the low Graham Price and the high Accrual Ratio. The positives are that it has very nice growth in earnings, revenue, cash flow and dividends.

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is a senior oil and natural gas exploration, development and production company. The Company's operations are focused in Western Canada, in the U.K. sector of the North Sea and in offshore West Africa. Its web site is www.cnrl.com. See my spreadsheet at www.spbrunner.com/stocks/cnq.htm.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. See my website at www.spbrunner.com/stocks.html for a list of the stocks for which I have put up spreadsheets on my web site.