Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Shares Sold by Marathon Asset Management Ltd

Key Points

• Marathon Asset Management cut its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 91,953 shares and leaving it with about 1.6 million shares valued at roughly $54.9 million.
• The company beat earnings and revenue expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $0.85 on revenue of $7.72 billion. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 4.09.
• Canadian Natural Resources also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, equivalent to a 5.1% annualized yield, with payment scheduled for July 7.

Marathon Asset Management Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,600,148 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 91,953 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources comprises about 2.1% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.08% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $54,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 506,601 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $17,159,000 after acquiring an additional 118,249 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 151,806 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $5,139,000 after purchasing an additional 56,496 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,494 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 550,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $18,618,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 255.9% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 457,067 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $15,472,000 after acquiring an additional 328,630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $49.40 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.64. The company has a market cap of $102.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its 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 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 5.1%. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources 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.

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