South Dakota Investment Council Sells 18,414 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,414 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 309.1% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 896 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3,182.7% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Canadian Natural Resources

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian Natural Resources this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat, record production and dividend bump — CNQ beat consensus EPS and revenue, reported record production (~1.66 mmboe/d), and raised the quarterly dividend ~6.4%, signaling strong cash generation and a shareholder‑friendly stance. Canadian Natural: Huge Gains, Dividend Increase, Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/target lift — RBC Capital raised its price target to $65 and kept an Outperform rating, implying meaningful upside versus current levels and likely supporting the rally. RBC price target raise (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Oil price tailwind — WTI above $75 amid geopolitical tensions, which benefits CNQ’s North American production profile and helps near‑term cash flow. Oil Prices Above $75 (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings detail & mixed metrics — official releases and transcripts confirm the beat, higher revenue and stronger operating cash flow, but operating profit and EPS were down YoY in some disclosures, creating a more nuanced profitability picture. Q4 results (Newsfile)
• Neutral Sentiment: Call/transcript available — The Q4 earnings call transcript and materials provide management color on production, capital spending and the updated capital allocation framework for investors doing deeper diligence. Q4 2025 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Pause of $8.25B oil‑sands expansion — Management paused a major oil‑sands expansion, citing carbon‑policy uncertainty; this could limit future growth optionality and highlights regulatory/transition risk for the company’s heavier assets. Pause of oil-sands expansion (Globe & Mail)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CNQ shares. Evercore downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Desjardins lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $46.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $96.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.63. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $46.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company 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 posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 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.