Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Lowers Stock Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC trimmed its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 68.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 5,917 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNQ. FMR LLC raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,857,337,000 after acquiring an additional 7,372,718 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 595.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,987 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 5,982 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 296,424 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,151,000 after purchasing an additional 17,694 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,109,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $746,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,945 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,437,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $136,994,000 after buying an additional 2,064,492 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Raymond James raised Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Up 1.6 %

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $30.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $64.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.84. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $24.65 and a 52 week high of $39.20.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4227 per share. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

Canadian Natural Resources 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).