Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Increases Stock Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,846 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 17,917 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $5,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter worth about $162,575,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,146,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $548,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832,155 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $855,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,505,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051,714 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CNQ. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price target on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $36.53 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $38.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.5875 per share. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 74.34%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company 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.