Foster & Motley Inc. Reduces Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,893 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 319 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $1,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 556.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 96,338 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,312,000 after acquiring an additional 81,669 shares in the last quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 464,287 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,406,000 after acquiring an additional 15,546 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 130.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,407 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,292,000 after purchasing an additional 89,700 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 456,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,904,000 after purchasing an additional 44,568 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Desjardins downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $77.08 on Wednesday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $52.66 and a 52-week high of $82.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.55.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. The company 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%. Analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.774 per share. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.02%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 53.25%.

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).