Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Position Reduced by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 45.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,758,285 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,334,946 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.13% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $88,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 226,059 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,225,000 after purchasing an additional 50,823 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 98.1% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 115,428 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,689,000 after purchasing an additional 57,154 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 158,178 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,055,000 after purchasing an additional 36,115 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at $9,488,000. Finally, Credit Agricole S A purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at $1,110,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Desjardins downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE CNQ opened at $48.46 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $48.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.73. The company has a market capitalization of $101.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.62.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.06. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 17.84% and a net margin of 24.48%.The firm had revenue of $6.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.625 per share. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 20th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.53%.

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.