Bank of Nova Scotia Buys 2,184,892 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 49.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,565,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,184,892 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources makes up 0.5% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.31% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $320,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. LOM Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $47.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.18. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $29.30 and a 12-month high of $51.34.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 54.03%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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.