Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Stock Position Increased by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 26.7% in the first quarter, buying an additional 1,475,500 shares and bringing its total to 7,011,862 shares valued at about $341.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed but still constructive: the stock carries an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $57.00, with six Buy ratings and five Hold ratings.
• Canadian Natural Resources recently beat earnings estimates, reporting $0.85 EPS versus $0.74 expected, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, equal to a 5.7% annualized yield.

Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 26.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,011,862 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,475,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.34% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $341,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $43.86 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.79. 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 firm has a market cap of $91.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $29.30 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is currently 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CNQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.