Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 23,763 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,764 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,763 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $10,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 309.1% in the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $34.37 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.98. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $35.12. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 18.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.5875 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Desjardins lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 target price on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.50.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.