Capital International Sarl Acquires 13,041 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Capital International Sarl grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 297,765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,041 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $9,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 931,845 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $29,785,000 after buying an additional 81,642 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,457,990 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $270,506,000 after acquiring an additional 545,831 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 23.9% during the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 25,958 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 28.2% during the third quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 6,485 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.8% during the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 847,192 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $27,095,000 after acquiring an additional 14,750 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE CNQ opened at $45.75 on Wednesday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $47.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $95.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.63.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 45.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Desjardins lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price target on Canadian Natural Resources and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

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.