Groupama Asset Managment Decreases Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Groupama Asset Managment cut its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 36.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,724 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 13,581 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 26,778 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,975 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 45,592 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 7,731 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $479,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNQ. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $40.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.91 and a 200-day moving average of $41.68. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $29.30 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.03%.

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.