Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Crossmark Global Holdings reduced its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 27,585 shares and leaving it with 405,480 shares valued at about $13.7 million.
• Other major institutional investors were mixed, with firms like Massachusetts Financial Services sharply increasing their holdings, while overall institutional ownership remains high at 74.03%.
• Analyst sentiment is improving: Raymond James and Goldman Sachs both raised their outlooks or price targets, and CNQ recently beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates while also announcing a quarterly dividend yielding about 5.6% annualized.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 405,480 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 27,585 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $13,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 7,455,286 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% during the third 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 17.6% during the third 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 period. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 17.4% during the third 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 period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 11.4% during the third 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 period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources News Roundup

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 Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $44.52 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $29.30 and a one year high of $51.34. The company has a market cap of $92.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.73.

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 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 business had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 19th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 18th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.59%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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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