Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Stock Holdings Trimmed by Dividend Assets Capital LLC

Key Points

• Dividend Assets Capital LLC cut its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 32.1% in Q1, selling 141,194 shares and leaving it with 298,546 shares worth about $14.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 74.03% of CNQ stock held by hedge funds and other institutional investors, and several large funds recently increasing their positions.
• Analysts are mixed but generally constructive: CNQ has a Moderate Buy consensus with a $57 average price target, while the company also reported Q1 EPS of $0.85, beat estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share.

Dividend Assets Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 32.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 298,546 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 141,194 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources comprises about 2.9% of Dividend Assets Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Dividend Assets Capital LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $14,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,956,204,000 after buying an additional 35,067,143 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in 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 worth $393,213,000 after buying an additional 7,455,286 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 11,020.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,735 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $124,672,000 after buying an additional 3,647,636 shares in the last quarter. BCV Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,309,000. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,628,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CNQ opened at $39.63 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $82.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.17.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is presently 54.03%.

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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