Tidal Investments LLC Decreases Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Tidal Investments reduced its Canadian Natural Resources stake by 11.6% in the second quarter, selling 76,553 shares and retaining 582,777 shares valued at approximately $23.0 million.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 74.03%, while analysts maintain a generally positive outlook: seven rate CNQ a Buy and five a Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $57 average price target.
• Canadian Natural Resources reported quarterly EPS of $1.58, exceeding estimates of $1.43, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.625, equivalent to an annualized $2.50 payout and a 4.9% yield.

Tidal Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 582,777 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 76,553 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $23,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,956,204,000 after acquiring an additional 35,067,143 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 1st quarter valued at $1,411,619,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 11,020.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,735 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $124,672,000 after purchasing an additional 3,647,636 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,826,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 105.7% in the second quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 6,350,644 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $250,892,000 after buying an additional 3,262,880 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. TD Securities reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Desjardins raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ stock opened at $50.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $104.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $29.68 and a twelve month high of $52.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The business had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.40 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is currently 44.69%.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) is a Canadian independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and refining company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces a range of energy products, including heavy and light crude oil, synthetic crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CNRL's operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it holds significant oil sands, conventional oil and natural gas assets. Its oil sands business includes mining and upgrading operations as well as in situ thermal projects.

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