Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited by 11.0% in Q2, owning a total of 309,001 shares valued at approximately $9.7 million.
• Canadian Natural Resources announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.4269 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.2%.
• The company reported an earnings beat with $0.51 per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.44, although revenue fell short of projections at $6.39 billion compared to the expected $8.97 billion.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 309,001 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 30,525 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $9,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 46.8% in the second quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 124,670 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,910,000 after purchasing an additional 39,717 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter worth about $221,000. Roundview Capital LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 22.7% during the second quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 65,994 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,072,000 after buying an additional 12,194 shares in the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 14.0% during the second quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 209,652 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,583,000 after buying an additional 25,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarius Group LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 15.8% during the second quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 10,595 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNQ. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $32.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.30 and a 200 day moving average of $30.84. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $37.91.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $6.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 19th were given a dividend of $0.4269 per share. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 19th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.64%.

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.