Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Stock Holdings Decreased by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank has reduced its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) by 2.1%, now owning approximately 6 million shares valued at $184.9 million.
• Canadian Natural Resources has recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.4269, resulting in a 5.6% dividend yield for shareholders.
• Analysts have given Canadian Natural Resources a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy," with a price target of $62.00, indicating positive outlooks from multiple research firms.

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,004,762 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 130,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.29% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $184,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 330,500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,203,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $775,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 706,198 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $21,792,000 after acquiring an additional 66,075 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 10,913 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $38,441,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, July 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $29.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,406,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,461,318. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.85. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $37.91. The stock has a market cap of $62.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $6.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.97 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 19.00% and a return on equity of 19.67%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.4269 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 19th. This represents a $1.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio 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).