Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 90.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,210 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 108,271 shares during the quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 146,331,336 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,956,204,000 after buying an additional 35,067,143 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 179.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,616,347 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $393,213,000 after acquiring an additional 7,455,286 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 11,020.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,735 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $124,672,000 after acquiring an additional 3,647,636 shares in the last quarter. BCV Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $84,309,000. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $73,628,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $39.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $29.30 and a 52-week high of $51.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $45.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.91. The firm has a market cap of $82.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.45.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 22.04%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company 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.