Capital Investment Counsel LLC Acquires Shares of 84,392 Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Capital Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 84,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,112,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $39.36 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. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $29.30 and a 12 month high of $51.34. The stock has a market cap of $81.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.99.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNQ. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price 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. Zacks Research lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.