Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,376,635 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,584 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources makes up about 1.3% of Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $80,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ted Buchan & Co boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 43,814 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 10,312 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,391 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 26,308 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $43.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.30 and a 200 day moving average of $41.58. The firm has a market cap of $89.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.45. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $29.30 and a 1 year high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

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.