Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, though institutional ownership remains high at about 74%.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.74 estimate and revenue of $7.72 billion versus $7.57 billion expected.
• Canadian Natural Resources declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, equal to a 5.6% annualized yield, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $57.00.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,626,182 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 89,856 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $55,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,160,340,000 after buying an additional 818,809 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,616,347 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $393,213,000 after buying an additional 7,455,286 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 11.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,614,291 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $307,344,000 after buying an additional 983,892 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 11.2% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,304,783 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $297,402,000 after buying an additional 934,708 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 17.6% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,172,873 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $293,165,000 after buying an additional 1,371,122 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CNQ opened at $44.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $92.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $29.30 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The firm's 50 day moving average is $46.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.73.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.80%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 18th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Key Headlines Impacting Canadian Natural Resources

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian Natural Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Canadian Natural Resources beat Q1 expectations, with earnings and revenue coming in above analyst estimates; that kind of outperformance can support the stock as investors reward better-than-expected operating results. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from “market perform” to “outperform,” while Zacks Research also raised its view to “strong-buy,” signaling improved analyst confidence in CNQ’s outlook. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.625 per share, underscoring its cash-return profile and offering investors a 5.6% annualized yield, which can attract income-focused buyers. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: CNQ also released first-quarter results showing strong revenue but softer profitability metrics versus last year, including lower gross profit, operating profit, and EPS year over year, which may temper enthusiasm even after the earnings beat. Article Title

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.

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