Natixis Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 360,931 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 125,890 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $12,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the third quarter worth $32,000. LOM Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $45.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $95.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68. 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 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 analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Canadian Natural Resources 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.