Franklin Resources Inc. Lowers Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,214,564 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 164,790 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $210,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Ted Buchan & Co lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.1% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 5,753 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $897,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 26,308 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $44.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.18. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $29.30 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.