Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Position Increased by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited by 27.5%, acquiring an additional 470,391 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately $67.2 million.
• Canadian Natural Resources recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4269, reflecting an increase from its previous dividend and offering a yield of 5.7%.
• Analysts have given Canadian Natural Resources a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $62.00, amid fluctuating performance and mixed earnings results.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,183,598 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 470,391 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $67,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 36,963,702 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,139,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844,700 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,052,775 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,051,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312,437 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.8% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 33,100,240 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,018,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,523 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 29,910,127 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $924,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 86.6% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,262,707 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $746,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,259,267 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNQ. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $29.79. 4,062,469 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,543,138. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $31.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.33. The company has a market capitalization of $62.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.05. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $24.65 and a 12-month high of $37.91.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.97 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 19.00%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a $0.4269 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is 60.64%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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).