Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Shares Acquired by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 63.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 485,471 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 187,984 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $14,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. grew 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.2% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 5,165 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 81,954 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.0%

CNQ stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.79. 12,786,356 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,634,122. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.35. 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 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.03.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 business earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4227 per share. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date 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 67.06%.

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).