Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 21,520 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,151,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 21,520 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources comprises 2.5% of Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $69,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Sarl boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 297,765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,523,000 after buying an additional 13,041 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 9.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 931,845 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,785,000 after acquiring an additional 81,642 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,457,990 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $270,506,000 after acquiring an additional 545,831 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 23.9% during the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 25,958 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $830,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 28.2% in the third quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust now owns 6,485 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on CNQ shares. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.2%

CNQ opened at $46.21 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $96.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.62. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $47.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.53%.

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.