Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 253,824 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. sold 253,824 shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited, reducing its stake to 6,946,275 shares, valued at approximately $213.9 million, which is a decrease of 3.5% in their holdings.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Canadian Natural Resources, with T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raising its stake by 29.1%, now holding 43,968,120 shares valued at $1.35 billion.
• Canadian Natural Resources recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.4269 per share, providing a dividend yield of 5.5% and reflecting a positive change from the previous quarter's dividend.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,946,275 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 253,824 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.33% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $213,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 158.3% in the first quarter. Investment Management Corp VA ADV now owns 997 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 253.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,307 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 104.0% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $68,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

CNQ stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.70. 1,250,845 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,433,465. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $37.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.05.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 19.00%.The company had revenue of $6.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.4269 per share. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is 60.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNQ. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, July 11th. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.00.

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).