Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Stock: Guardian Partners Inc. Cuts Position

Guardian Partners Inc. lessened its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 398,668 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 17,571 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources makes up 1.7% of Guardian Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Guardian Partners Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $18,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Uncommon Cents Investing Inc increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 7.8% during the third quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing Inc now owns 6,930 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.5% in the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 53,059 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799 shares during the period. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at about $207,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 19,194 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,459,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $784,278,000 after purchasing an additional 223,444 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $54.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,169,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,968,577. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $29.98 and a 12-month high of $55.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.68. The company has a market capitalization of $111.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.53.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.40 billion. Research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a dividend of C$0.62 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production, marketing and sale of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its portfolio includes conventional and unconventional petroleum assets, heavy crude oil operations, and oil sands projects that produce bitumen and synthetic crude oil.

The company’s principal operations are located in Western Canada, including oil sands and conventional assets in Alberta and natural gas properties in Alberta and British Columbia.