Guinness Asset Management LTD Lowers Stock Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Guinness Asset Management LTD lessened its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 279,683 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 67,935 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $8,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 240.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 22,776,594 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $701,519,000 after purchasing an additional 16,094,168 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 86.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,262,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $746,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,259,267 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,968,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,354,219,000 after purchasing an additional 9,915,345 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,769,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,285,464,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805,451 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 403.7% in the 1st quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,738,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $145,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,797,846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNQ. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, July 11th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:CNQ opened at $31.21 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $37.91. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.05 and a 200 day moving average of $30.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.03.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.97 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 19.00% and a return on equity of 19.67%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be issued a $0.4269 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 60.64%.

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).