Ahead of the Bell: Canadian Natural

Tom Driscoll boosted Canadian Natural Resources to "Overweight" from "Equal Weight" in a note to investors. He also raised his 12-month target price to $85 from $81.

Shares of Canadian Natural were unchanged at $74.02 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Driscoll singled out several oil projects that Canadian Natural is undertaking as likely to add value to shares over the next year. Shares of Canadian Natural have underperformed compared to its peers by about 29 percent since May 2007, even as oil prices have climbed significantly since then, Driscoll wrote.

He said he believes the company's Horizon Oil Sands project, which is scheduled to begin extracting oil in the Canadian province of Alberta in the third quarter, will significantly boost its cash flow.

Driscoll also said the company's Primrose East project will raise oil production when it becomes operational at the beginning of fiscal 2009.

Driscoll left his profit outlook of $4.90 for the company in fiscal 2008 unchanged. Analysts predict the company will earn $4.29 per share for the year, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.