TD Asset Management Inc Sells 989,538 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

TD Asset Management Inc cut its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,945,726 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 989,538 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for 1.0% of TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $1,286,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 85.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,090 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 8,336 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 92.7% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 29,096 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 13,996 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 79,374 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,445,000 after buying an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $47.75 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.87 and its 200-day moving average is $40.83. The stock has a market cap of $99.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 0.45. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $29.30 and a twelve month high of $51.34. 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 (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.