Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 14,285 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,456 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 14,285 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $2,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CNQ. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 76.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 15,100 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 6,547 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,854,530 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $180,665,000 after purchasing an additional 178,596 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth $38,441,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $32.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.23 and a 200-day moving average of $30.33. The stock has a market cap of $67.44 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 1.03. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $37.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 16.92% and a return on equity of 20.90%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.4227 per share. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.24%. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.00.

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).

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