Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp Acquires Shares of 4,000 Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000. Canadian Natural Resources makes up about 0.2% of Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 993.8% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 206,580 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $13,535,000 after purchasing an additional 187,694 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 556.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 96,338 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,312,000 after acquiring an additional 81,669 shares during the period. Baskin Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 464,287 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $30,406,000 after buying an additional 15,546 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,407 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,292,000 after buying an additional 89,700 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 456,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,904,000 after buying an additional 44,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.1 %

CNQ traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $76.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,145,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,307,850. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $52.66 and a 1 year high of $82.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $71.89 and its 200-day moving average is $67.09.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 21.74%. As a group, research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.774 dividend. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.25%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company 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).