Whittier Trust Co. Boosts Stock Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,736 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,799 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 144,344,207 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,011,765,000 after purchasing an additional 684,532 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,813,537 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,343,849,000 after buying an additional 714,346 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 96.2% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,518,833 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,514,190,000 after buying an additional 20,843,193 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 93.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,464,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,476,644,000 after buying an additional 19,980,902 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 105.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 31,668,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,127,382,000 after buying an additional 16,245,046 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $35.11 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.06. The firm has a market cap of $74.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 1.50. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $29.45 and a 52 week high of $41.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.26. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 22.09% and a net margin of 18.05%. The firm had revenue of $7.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.388 dividend. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNQ. Wolfe Research began coverage on Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.50.

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).