Clarius Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Clarius Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,600 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 993.8% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 206,580 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,535,000 after purchasing an additional 187,694 shares in the last quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 464,287 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $30,406,000 after purchasing an additional 15,546 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,407 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,292,000 after purchasing an additional 89,700 shares in the last quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 117.1% in the 3rd quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 79,247 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 42,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 3,237,831 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $210,363,000 after purchasing an additional 17,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $79.23 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $70.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.85. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $52.66 and a twelve month high of $82.58. 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 cap of $84.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30 and a beta of 1.54.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 21.74%. The firm had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.774 per share. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.25%.

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).