Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stakes in Canadian Natural Resources Limited by 14.5%, owning 1,906,595 shares valued at approximately $58.7 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $62.00 for Canadian Natural Resources, with several firms rating the stock as "outperform" or "moderate buy".
• Canadian Natural Resources announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4269 per share, increasing from the previous dividend and representing a dividend yield of 5.7%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 14.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,906,595 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 241,951 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $58,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 997 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 253.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,307 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 104.0% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter valued at about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.83. The company had a trading volume of 3,142,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,632,908. The stock has a market cap of $62.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.34. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $37.91.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.97 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 19.00% and a return on equity of 19.67%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.4269 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is currently 59.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).