Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Shares Sold by Yacktman Asset Management LP

Key Points

• Yacktman Asset Management cut its CNQ stake by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 2.13 million shares. Despite the trim, Canadian Natural Resources remained its largest holding, worth about $635.5 million.
• Canadian Natural Resources beat first-quarter expectations, reporting EPS of $0.85 versus estimates of $0.74 and revenue of $7.72 billion versus $7.57 billion expected. The company also posted a strong 17.8% return on equity.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with Raymond James upgrading CNQ to outperform and Zacks Research raising it to strong-buy. The stock now has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $57.00.

Yacktman Asset Management LP trimmed its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,775,420 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 2,133,091 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for about 8.9% of Yacktman Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.90% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $635,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% in 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,486,389 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,957,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,290 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,172,873 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $293,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,122 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 8,372,021 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $267,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,614,291 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $307,344,000 after purchasing an additional 983,892 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Canadian Natural Resources News

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 Price Performance

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

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 22.04%.The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 18th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on CNQ shares. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company 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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