35,000 Shares in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Acquired by Inspire Trust Co. N.A.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 35,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,185,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tacita Capital Inc increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.1% in the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 5,753 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 26,308 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.2% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 17,886 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,794 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.2%

CNQ stock opened at $45.86 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1-year low of $29.30 and a 1-year high of $51.34. The stock has a market cap of $95.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.The business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.