USS Investment Management Ltd Buys New Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

USS Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 214,378 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $6,609,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,857,337,000 after acquiring an additional 7,372,718 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 595.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 296,424 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $9,151,000 after purchasing an additional 17,694 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,109,432 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $746,025,000 after buying an additional 1,270,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,437,771 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $136,994,000 after buying an additional 2,064,492 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,033,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,524,661. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $65.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.44 and its 200 day moving average is $30.52. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $24.65 and a 12-month high of $38.86.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 18.45%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.4227 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.43%. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is 63.92%.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

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).