Guardian Partners Inc. Sells 15,833 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Guardian Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 482,719 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,833 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources comprises approximately 1.3% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $15,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 309.1% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the first 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. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3,182.7% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Canadian Natural Resources

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian Natural Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat, record production and dividend bump — CNQ beat consensus EPS and revenue, reported record production (~1.66 mmboe/d), and raised the quarterly dividend ~6.4%, signaling strong cash generation and a shareholder‑friendly stance. Canadian Natural: Huge Gains, Dividend Increase, Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/target lift — RBC Capital raised its price target to $65 and kept an Outperform rating, implying meaningful upside versus current levels and likely supporting the rally. RBC price target raise (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Oil price tailwind — WTI above $75 amid geopolitical tensions, which benefits CNQ’s North American production profile and helps near‑term cash flow. Oil Prices Above $75 (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings detail & mixed metrics — official releases and transcripts confirm the beat, higher revenue and stronger operating cash flow, but operating profit and EPS were down YoY in some disclosures, creating a more nuanced profitability picture. Q4 results (Newsfile)
• Neutral Sentiment: Call/transcript available — The Q4 earnings call transcript and materials provide management color on production, capital spending and the updated capital allocation framework for investors doing deeper diligence. Q4 2025 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Pause of $8.25B oil‑sands expansion — Management paused a major oil‑sands expansion, citing carbon‑policy uncertainty; this could limit future growth optionality and highlights regulatory/transition risk for the company’s heavier assets. Pause of oil-sands expansion (Globe & Mail)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. Evercore cut Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price objective on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Desjardins cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ stock opened at $46.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $46.85.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 18.24%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 45.53%.

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.