Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 91.3% in Q4, selling 90,600 shares and leaving it with 8,600 shares valued at $288,000.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $57, with recent notable moves including Goldman Sachs raising its target to $49 and RBC to $65, while ratings remain split (six Buy, six Hold).
• Canadian Natural beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.59 vs. $0.53; revenue $6.89B vs. $6.64B) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.625 (annualized $2.50), yielding 5.5%.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 91.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,600 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 90,600 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. LOM Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ opened at $45.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $95.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $28.27 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The company's 50-day moving average price is $46.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.59%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company 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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