Novem Group Acquires New Shares in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Novem Group bought 37,532 shares of Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) in Q4, a stake valued at about $1.27 million, adding to institutional ownership that stands around 74%.
• CNQ beat quarterly expectations with $0.59 EPS (vs. $0.53 est.) and $6.89B revenue, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.625 (annualized $2.50), a yield of roughly 5.8%.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus is a Moderate Buy with a $57 price target, while some firms raised targets (RBC to $65) and others trimmed ratings.

Novem Group acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 37,532 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,270,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tacita Capital Inc increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 5,753 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 26,308 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 17,886 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,794 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,939 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $43.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.63. The company has a market capitalization of $90.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.53. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $27.93 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.The business had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is 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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