HighTower Advisors LLC Has $3.78 Million Stock Position 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 lowered its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNQ. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 240.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 22,776,594 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $701,519,000 after acquiring an additional 16,094,168 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 86.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,262,707 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $746,675,000 after acquiring an additional 11,259,267 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 403.7% during the 1st quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,738,577 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $145,828,000 after acquiring an additional 3,797,846 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,052,775 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,051,210,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $68,342,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CNQ. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 1.8%

Canadian Natural Resources stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.49. 12,835,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,037,720. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.32. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $37.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.4269 per share. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is 59.93%.

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).