Conning Inc. Increases Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,261 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $2,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $960,796,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 88.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,930,544 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $491,064,000 after purchasing an additional 3,716,523 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,235,475 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,493,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332,528 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 7,640,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $494,262,000 after buying an additional 2,305,000 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 9,297.9% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,192,895 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $143,284,000 after buying an additional 2,169,561 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $79.03 on Monday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $52.66 and a 1 year high of $82.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.85.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. On average, analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.774 dividend. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 53.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).