Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 6,449,815 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 110.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,285,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,449,815 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.58% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $437,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter worth about $890,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 90.3% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,017,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,069,338,000 after purchasing an additional 14,246,978 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 102.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,084,649 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $963,348,000 after purchasing an additional 13,694,741 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 78,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,795,000 after buying an additional 39,260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $276,000. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $33.21 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.35. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $29.45 and a 52-week high of $41.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 1.51.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $7.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.19 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 22.09% and a net margin of 18.05%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 4th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.384 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 61.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CNQ. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.50.

Canadian Natural Resources 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).