Korea Investment CORP Acquires 14,750 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Korea Investment CORP grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 847,192 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,750 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $27,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $162,575,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 19.8% during 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 2,051,714 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Evercore downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price objective on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.2%

CNQ opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $47.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.62.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 18.24%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 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.