Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Shares Sold by QV Investors Inc.

QV Investors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 576,725 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 45,142 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources makes up about 1.6% of QV Investors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $19,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,546,233 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,486,389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,957,252,000 after buying an additional 1,744,290 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 17.6% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,172,873 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $293,165,000 after buying an additional 1,371,122 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 17.4% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 8,372,021 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $267,665,000 after buying an additional 1,242,197 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 11.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,614,291 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $307,344,000 after acquiring an additional 983,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $47.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.53. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $43.76 and its 200-day moving average is $36.53.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be given a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 49.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNQ. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” 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.