Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Shares Sold by Canoe Financial LP

Canoe Financial LP reduced its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,588,945 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 132,088 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources makes up about 2.6% of Canoe Financial LP’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Canoe Financial LP’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $189,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNQ. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.8%

CNQ stock opened at $50.05 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $51.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $104.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.96.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.59%.

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.