Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 448,274 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 11,224 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $15,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNQ. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, LOM Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CNQ. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Evercore cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ stock opened at $45.05 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $27.93 and a 12 month high of $51.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.06. The stock has a market cap of $93.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.53.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 24.48% and a return on equity of 17.84%. The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Friday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.59%.

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.