Capital World Investors Sells 5,600,551 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Capital World Investors trimmed its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 203,333,939 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 5,600,551 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for approximately 0.9% of Capital World Investors’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Capital World Investors owned 0.10% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $6,501,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,852,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,003,542 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,616,219 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,654,000 after purchasing an additional 43,356 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,716,038 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $54,883,000 after purchasing an additional 33,609 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 89,973 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 8,078 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,718,220 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,946,000 after buying an additional 143,550 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.2%

CNQ opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $47.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.27.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 45.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Desjardins lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.00.

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.