Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 119,481 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 67,572 shares during the quarter. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $4,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $855,414,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,233 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% in the 2nd 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 17.6% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,172,873 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $293,165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 17.4% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 8,372,021 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $267,665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242,197 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:CNQ opened at $49.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.63. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $51.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.89 and a 200 day moving average of $35.70.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.The business had revenue of $6.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 increased their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. 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. Finally, Evercore cut Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” 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.