Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Shares Acquired by Syon Capital LLC

Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 39.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,192 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,028 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the third quarter valued at about $494,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 52.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,559 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.0% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 238.1% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CNQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Desjardins downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $77.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,580,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,327,672. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $82.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.54 and its 200-day moving average is $67.62. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $52.66 and a 12-month high of $82.58.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 20.15% and a return on equity of 21.74%. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.774 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.25%.

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).