Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 36,584 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,376,635 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 36,584 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources makes up about 1.3% of Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.11% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $80,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in 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 worth $4,956,204,000 after acquiring an additional 35,067,143 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,160,340,000 after acquiring an additional 818,809 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 42,745,981 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,446,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342,954 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,621 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $710,119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347,844 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,308,539 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $484,344,000 after acquiring an additional 260,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. 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. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $43.24 on Wednesday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $29.30 and a 52-week high of $51.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $46.30 and a 200-day moving average of $41.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is 54.63%.

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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