Alberta Investment Management Corp Takes Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,025,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $68,608,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $23,741,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 68,031 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 2,841 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 64,759 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after acquiring an additional 3,770 shares during the period. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. now owns 124,230 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,205,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $348,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $44.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $91.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.45. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $29.30 and a 12 month high of $51.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.51.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNQ. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.