Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Shares Purchased by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) by 294.3%, acquiring 411,166 shares valued at $12.65 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Canadian Natural Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4269 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous dividend and representing a yield of 5.5%.
• Recent earnings results showed Canadian Natural Resources reporting $0.51 EPS, surpassing estimates, but revenue fell short of expectations at $6.39 billion.

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 294.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 411,166 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 306,900 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $12,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 158.3% in the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 997 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 253.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,307 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 104.0% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CNQ. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

CNQ stock traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $32.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,334,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,430,631. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $37.91. The company has a market capitalization of $68.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.07. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 19.00%.The business had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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 Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a $0.4269 dividend. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $1.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.64%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).