Unigestion Holding SA Buys 112,103 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 19.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 693,037 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 112,103 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for about 1.3% of Unigestion Holding SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $21,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNQ. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 51.0% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,271 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,033 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Baskin Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 996,151 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $30,736,000 after acquiring an additional 10,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 27,065 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 9,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on CNQ shares. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNQ traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $30.97. The stock had a trading volume of 3,663,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,554,873. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 1.04. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $37.91.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.4227 per share. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources's payout ratio is currently 63.92%.

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).