American Trust Purchases Shares of 70,599 Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

American Trust acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 70,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,345,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 96.2% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,518,833 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,514,190,000 after acquiring an additional 20,843,193 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 93.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,464,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,476,644,000 after purchasing an additional 19,980,902 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 105.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 31,668,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,127,382,000 after purchasing an additional 16,245,046 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 95.9% in the 2nd quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 29,456,746 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,048,660,000 after purchasing an additional 14,418,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 90.3% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,017,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,069,338,000 after buying an additional 14,246,978 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE:CNQ opened at $31.65 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.87. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $29.45 and a 12 month high of $41.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.30. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 18.45%. The business had revenue of $7.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.388 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CNQ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).