Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 145,144 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,410,323 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 145,144 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $458,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, LOM Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CNQ stock opened at $43.98 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $44.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 54.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Desjardins raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.