Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 171,000 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 63.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,200 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 171,000 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $3,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter valued at about $162,575,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% during the second 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,146,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $548,214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,832,155 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $855,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,233 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,505,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051,714 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on CNQ shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE:CNQ opened at $37.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $77.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.69. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $24.65 and a 12 month high of $38.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.26.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 18.93%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.5875 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 74.34%.

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.