Independent Advisor Alliance Takes Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 8,306 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 6,902.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,652,855 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $112,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600,686 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 73.3% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 7,834,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $260,116,000 after buying an additional 3,312,442 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 63.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 8,233,388 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $273,417,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198,007 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,437,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,994,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064,492 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 43,581,024 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,447,326,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,452 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.2 %

CNQ opened at $30.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.10 and its 200-day moving average is $32.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $25.62 and a 52-week high of $41.29.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.4117 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.37%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Tudor Pickering lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).