HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ) by 27.5%, now owning 122,644 shares valued at approximately $3.78 million.
• Canadian Natural Resources recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.4269, reflecting an annual yield of 5.8%.
• The company reported earnings of $0.51 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.44, despite revenue falling short of projections at $6.39 billion.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 122,644 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 46,602 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $3,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNQ. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 17,800 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 63,605 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 19,382 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,987,284 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $215,688,000 after buying an additional 182,707 shares in the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter valued at $307,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 55,045 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,699,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE:CNQ traded up $0.9450 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.1050. The company had a trading volume of 6,376,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,555,778. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $31.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.31. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $24.65 and a 12-month high of $37.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.97 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 19.00%.During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a $0.4269 dividend. This represents a $1.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.64%.

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).