Intech Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management cut its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 40,702 shares and leaving it with 424,624 shares valued at about $14.4 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mostly positive, with analysts giving CNQ a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $57.00 after several recent rating and target changes.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.74 estimate and revenue of $7.72 billion, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share.

Intech Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 424,624 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 40,702 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $14,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 8,336 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 13,996 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,445,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 65.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CNQ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $45.37 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month high of $51.34. The company has a market cap of $94.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.46.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Canadian Natural Resources 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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