Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 210,265 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,415,917 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 210,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $68,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 8,336 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% in the 1st 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% in the 1st 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 period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of CNQ opened at $42.85 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.11 and its 200-day moving average is $42.78. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $29.30 and a 12 month high of $51.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 54.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

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.