Davis Rea LTD. Buys New Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Davis Rea LTD. purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 304,380 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $9,867,000. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for about 2.4% of Davis Rea LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at about $361,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,852,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,003,542 shares during the period. Journey Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,458,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.8% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 41,581,125 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,304,267,000 after purchasing an additional 316,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 11.0% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 2,370,885 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $74,446,000 after purchasing an additional 235,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Desjardins cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 1.5%

CNQ opened at $34.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.05 and a 200 day moving average of $31.95. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $24.65 and a 12 month high of $35.12.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 14.90%.The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.5875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.34%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.