Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 331,838 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 11,439 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $21,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 30.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,128 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,055 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter worth $403,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 26.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,727 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 896,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,540,000 after buying an additional 214,665 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $77.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $52.66 and a one year high of $82.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.89 and its 200-day moving average is $67.09.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. Equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.774 per share. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.25%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).