Capital World Investors Sells 5,600,551 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Capital World Investors cut its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 203,333,939 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 5,600,551 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for 0.9% of Capital World Investors’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Capital World Investors owned approximately 9.75% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $6,501,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the second quarter valued at $162,575,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $2,852,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,003,542 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,146,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $548,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832,155 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $855,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,505,303,000 after buying an additional 2,051,714 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CNQ. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 0.2%

CNQ stock opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.11 and a 200 day moving average of $34.27. The firm has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.62. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $47.47. 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 earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.24% and a net margin of 24.48%.The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a $0.625 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a 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.