South Dakota Investment Council Sells 18,414 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,414 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,852,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003,542 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,616,219 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,654,000 after buying an additional 43,356 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,716,038 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,883,000 after buying an additional 33,609 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.9% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.1% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,718,220 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,946,000 after acquiring an additional 143,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $46.43 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.85 and a 200-day moving average of $34.12. The company has a market capitalization of $96.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.63. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $46.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 18.24%. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th 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 5.4%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.53%.

More Canadian Natural Resources News

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)

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.