New England Research & Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 92,486,389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,957,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,290 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,505,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051,714 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $855,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,233 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,092,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $442,509,000 after purchasing an additional 399,945 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 11.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,614,291 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $307,344,000 after purchasing an additional 983,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ stock opened at $49.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.33. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $51.34. The company has a market capitalization of $102.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 0.63.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 49.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on CNQ shares. Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore cut Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Desjardins cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.