Dividend Assets Capital LLC Raises Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Dividend Assets Capital LLC increased 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 disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 403,972 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 98,096 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for about 2.4% of Dividend Assets Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Dividend Assets Capital LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $12,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.2% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 5,165 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 81,954 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,530,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of CNQ stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,786,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,634,116. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $70.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $29.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.34. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $37.91.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.4227 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.00%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CNQ. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.00.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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).