NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ) - Get Report are higher by 4.49% to $30.97 in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday, following the energy company's 2014 fourth quarter earnings results which came in greater than analysts had expected for the period and improved year-over-year.

For the most recent quarter the company, which is involved in the acquisition, exploration, development, marketing, production and sale of crude oil, NGLs, and natural gas said its adjusted earnings were 69 cents per diluted share versus the 67 cents analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting.

Canadian Natural Resources said its adjusted earnings for the year ago fourth quarter were 52 cents per diluted share.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES as a Hold with a ratings score of C+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate CANADIAN NATURAL RESOURCES (CNQ) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year."

You can view the full analysis from the report here: CNQ Ratings Report

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