Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Raises Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 183.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,011,022 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 654,266 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $49,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 6,758,445 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $228,729,000 after buying an additional 315,460 shares during the period. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,198,000. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,122,209 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $252,883,000 after acquiring an additional 938,210 shares during the last quarter. Novem Group bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,270,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 78,161 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after acquiring an additional 29,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNQ. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE:CNQ opened at $47.07 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $29.30 and a 52 week high of $51.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $43.99 and its 200-day moving average is $43.18. The firm has a market cap of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released 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 business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 54.03%.

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.