Venture Visionary Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,235,475 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,493,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332,528 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the first quarter worth about $960,796,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,225,902 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $789,964,000 after purchasing an additional 234,170 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 15.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 12,852,785 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $837,145,000 after buying an additional 1,750,013 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.0% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,642,676 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $752,932,000 after buying an additional 442,986 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $80.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $86.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.54. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $52.66 and a 52-week high of $81.25.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. Research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.774 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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).