Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Stock Position Reduced by Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lessened its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,514 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 19,755 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for about 0.6% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $6,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,336 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,996 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 65.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNQ. Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $41.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $29.30 and a 52 week high of $51.34. The firm has a market cap of $86.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.03%.

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.