Verity & Verity LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Key Points

• Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 29,406 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 540,570 shares valued at about $18.3 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors owning 74.03% of the stock. Several large firms, including Vanguard, Fisher Asset Management, Geode Capital Management, and Massachusetts Financial Services, also boosted their positions.
• Analysts remain cautiously bullish on CNQ, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00. The company also beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share, implying a 5.5% annual yield.

Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ - Free Report) TSE: CNQ by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 540,570 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 29,406 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for 1.4% of Verity & Verity LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $18,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 93,305,198 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,160,340,000 after buying an additional 818,809 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 42,745,981 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,446,951,000 after buying an additional 1,342,954 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,518,621 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $710,119,000 after buying an additional 1,347,844 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,616,347 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $393,213,000 after buying an additional 7,455,286 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 11.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,614,291 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $307,344,000 after buying an additional 983,892 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CNQ. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE CNQ opened at $45.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $29.30 and a 12 month high of $51.34. The company's fifty day moving average price is $47.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ - Get Free Report) TSE: CNQ last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources's dividend payout ratio is 54.93%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited NYSE: CNQ is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company's operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.

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