Marathon Asset Management Ltd Reduces Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,692,101 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 98,054 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources makes up 2.0% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.08% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $54,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $361,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,852,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003,542 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the second quarter worth $2,458,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.8% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 41,581,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,304,267,000 after buying an additional 316,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 11.0% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 2,370,885 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $74,446,000 after buying an additional 235,198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $32.80 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.70. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $35.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.5875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CNQ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.